George would be proud

Dan Voelpel's column today posts reader submissions of ideas for the next Washington State tourism slogan.

Considering I had a lot of fun at SayWa's expense, I thought I'd link to the column, because there are some really good ones.

"George would be proud" stands out, I feel. I'm also pretty fond of "Ooo La WA" although it's a little too close to SayWA, but for some reason I like it a whole lot better. I'm even kind of partial to "From Ski to Shining Sea."

Although I'm pretty tempted to eventually side with the Ken Miller in the article--"The Evergreen State" is nice in its simplicity.

No lone Ranger

Apparently, the Ranger can still get some headlines. The Kitsap Sun had a short blog post saying "the dream is over but the fight isn't" with links to ErikEmery and 5views. And Scott Fontaine at the News Tribune says that we're in a "minor cyberspat" over an issue that has been dead for years.

Ah yes, the blogosphere ... where dead horses are beaten daily. I've been arguing with 5views over on his site in the comments. Now we're debating the likely attendance the carrier would have had in Tacoma, so you know we're definitely still on topic.

On the USS Ranger

The blogger over at 5views.com can irk me sometimes. Especially on a day like today when he faults "several liberal groups, some of whom the city council looks to for direction" for scuttling the proposal to bring the USS Ranger to Tacoma.

Dude. I was there. We worked damn hard to try to make it work here. Here's the story as I remember it.

In 2002, I received a call from a board member of the USS Ranger Foundation, expressing the interest of moving the Ranger here. At the time, I was the Marketing Coordinator at the Convention & Visitor Bureau; not a position that would normally attract the attention of the Ranger Foundation but I knew the board member personally.

I felt that the Ranger had strong potential to be located in Tacoma. With permission from my boss, I organized all appointments for the Ranger in that first year in Tacoma and fought hard for the project.

We met with John Ladenburg, Juli Wilkerson at the City (then head of economic development), Don Meyer (at the Foss), Park officials, Port officials, and numerous other groups. We arranged for tours of the incredible ship at Bremerton for Mayor Baarsma and a bunch of other elected officials at the local, state, and national level (I was fortunate enough to go as well and I will attest it was an awesome ship).

After a huge summit meeting with 20+ people around the table in 2003 (I think), it was clear even then that there was only one acceptable location in Tacoma for the ship: the end of the Thea Foss Waterway.

All other locations were deemed too difficult for a myriad of reasons. Parking, being a huge limiting factor. Views, being another. The Navy will not donate a ship like this if a group of citizens is opposed to a ship blocking their view, mostly because they don’t want to have it handed back to them.

But even if all the people whose views would have been impacted were in favor of it, it was still very unlikely to go in Commencement Bay. The only practical place to put it in on the Bay was the end of Ruston Way. And that site had three other major hurdles before you even get to the views: parking, traffic, and a very strong current, which was going to increase the cost of the museum substantially.

So it left the end of the Foss as the only location in Tacoma suitable–no view impediment, no strong current, and close enough to the Dome to allow for a short shuttle from the parking lots there.

From there the Ranger Foundation and the Foss Waterway Development Authority started kicking the idea around, and by that time I was out of the picture and at the Grand.

The FWDA didn't come to a quick decision against the ship. I know from personal accounts that they really liked the idea. But the scope of the project was just too big.

The ship, in practical terms, would mean putting a wall more than 1,000 feet long and at, at its shortest, 60 ft. tall at the end of the waterway. The 37 foot draft of the ship presented huge logistical problems there as well. The only practical way to set it up was to jut it into the middle of the navigable waterway, otherwise the ship was going impede ship traffic at the grain silo.

Of course, everything can be worked out eventually, but the cost of that particular site was hard to get around (the estimate then was the entire project would cost $30 million or more there). And the commissioners (rightly, I think) decided that it was just too big to fit. It was the wrong choice for that location and, as such, was not going to work in Tacoma.

It was not ushered out of town by liberal groups. In the end, it was not even the work of NIMBYs. It just wasn’t going to work. I was in many meetings when a chart of our coastline was laid out and a scale model of the ship was pushed around every conceivable nook and cranny we have. We tried hard. I worked hard to get it here and if it had happened I would be proud to be one of the hundreds that made it possible.

I do recall one of the volunteers for the Ranger Foundation telling me back in 2003 that the reception they got in Tacoma was far greater than anywhere else they’d been looking that time. It was why they spent so long working with us, because people here really wanted to make it work. In no other cities did so many people say, “That sounds like a great idea, tell us more.”

All this is to say that it was not short-sightedness, narrow-mindedness, or crazy liberals that made Tacoma not viable. It was a function of largely geography and sheer scale that made it so difficult that ultimately we couldn't find a suitable spot.

All Around T-Town

What a day! Taking Mary's mom around took a long time.

We started at Puget Sound Pizza, which I will now state is my favorite breakfast spot in Tacoma although I am still fond of Old Milwaukee. From there it was a fun walk to the Murano. The finishing touches were being installed for tonight's big opening and gala.

We went up the elevator as high as we could and then traversed the floors all the way down. Each floor is given over to an artist--it is an incredible tour of glass. I helped film for the Exit133 podcast about the Murano and coming back on my own was still fun.

The hotel truly is incredible. I encourage everyone to venture over and check it out. From there we went to the museum district and said "Hello, Cupcake" (translation=enjoyed a very fine cupcake while watching the high street traffic). We caught the Link back home.

From there it was a long drive out to Chambers Bay, which we walked on this beautiful day (felt really good down there by the water) before driving all the way north again to Ruston and taking Ruston Way back home.

Dinner at Stadium Bistro. Last night we went to Europa Bistro, followed by "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" at the Grand. Having company is danged fun--it's a good reason to really hang out in the city like a tourist!

Tacoma Room Nights

Dan Voelpel's Sunday story about the lack of hotel room within walking distance of the Convention Center is right on the money. But I think it's important to revisit briefly.

First off, the number of rooms has not changed since the Center was built. Working at the Convention & Visitor Bureau during its construction, I remember many people in the tourism industry saying the same thing: the center is too big for the number of hotel rooms nearby. 4 years later, nothing's changed.

And it's not going to get any easier. First, Dan's article contains this line:

Then the City Council will decide whether to dangle as bait the land it owns next to the convention center to attract a four-star hotel developer willing to build the city’s largest hotel – at least 400 rooms.

This is bad. We don't want another 4 star hotel; conferences and conventions need a Holiday Inn or a Best Western sometimes. Murano is an incredible hotel, but it's features are going to price some conventions out of the market. Having a lower-cost alternative to it and the Courtyard by Marriot (itself not a cheap hotel) would be better for attracting conventions. And, yes, I know I wrote a sonnet decrying the lost of the Heidelberg Brewery to a Holiday Inn. But a huge parcel attached to the Convention Center seems like a much better place for the hotel.

Adding insult to injury, though, is this part of Dan's article:

... Spokane has roughly 4,000 hotel rooms downtown. Tacoma? Some 470 between the Marriott and the Murano.

We are the same size as Spokane and they have more than 8 times as many hotel rooms in their downtown? In a city just a few thousand people smaller (depending on who's count)? Ouch.

In other tourism news, you can read a skeptical take on local tourism promotion over at 5Views, plus my response in the comments.