An early design concept for the proposed Chihuly Center had a "cascade of glass" as a central design element.
Unless you live in Seattle, you’ve probably missed the escalating battle for what to do with a shuttered amusement park at the foot of the Seattle Space Needle since the GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet last wrote about the proposed Chihuly Center in April 2010. The Wright family, owners of the tourist destination originally built for the 1962 World’s Fair, wanted to partner with the area’s other towering local figure, Dale Chihuly, in a bid to increase traffic to the Seattle Center area of the city. They proposed leasing space at the base of the Space Needle occupied by the now-defunct Fun Forest Amusement Park to build a $15 million, 44,000-square-foot exhibition center for Chihuly’s work. Then, in June 2010, came a serious alternate bid by the local radio station KEXP, which proposed to use the same space for a new home for their well-loved independent radio station that included a performance stage for local musicians and public green space, and garnered the support of big-name musicians such as Dave Matthews and members of Pearl Jam. Even though a review of all proposals by Seattle officials and a citizen’s committee convened to study the issue both favored the Chihuly Center because it would cost Seattle taxpayers nothing and had the potential to draw the largest number of visitors and generate the most tourist-dollars, Seattle mayor Mike McGinn announced this morning that he favors a compromise of a 12,500-square-foot indoor Chihuly exhibition area, with a 26,000-square-foot art garden, and an additional 6,800 feet of retail and lobby space, that shares an expanded site plan with a 27,900-square-foot facility at an adjacent site to be taken over by KEXP as well as a new children’s playground, financed through $2 million paid by the Wright family.
The competing plan for KEXP to take over the same space envisioned free pubic concerts outside the radio station's studios and offices.
The mayor’s proposal, which must still get City Council approval before it becomes official, will have the Chihuly Center pay Seattle between $350,000 and $500,000 per year, while the radio station will pay $62,500. Dale Chihuly sounded a conciliatory note in his prepared remarks on the mayor’s announcement. ““It is a privilege and honor that the Mayor is recommending this exhibition,” he said. “Adding both KEXP and this exhibition to the Campus will help create a more vibrant and exciting experience for the neighborhood, the City of Seattle and out-of-town visitors.”
At the mayor’s press conference, Chihuly’s wife, Leslie, offered public comments citing her husband’s presence in Tel Aviv for the opening of his exhibition at Litvak Gallery, which officially debuts tomorrow. “It is so important to us that this exhibition is here in Seattle – it’s a way for Dale, our family and our extended family in the arts community to give back, and acknowledge Seattle as a center of art, culture and creativity,” she said.
This map, released by the Seattle Mayor's office today, shows how the Chihuly Center and KEXP studios will share the site at the base of the Space Needle.
More detail on what the Chihuly Center might end up looking like comes from a press release issued today by Chihuly Studio. It reads: “Chihuly plans for the exhibition to be a comprehensive exploration of his work presented in both interior and exterior spaces. It will include a Glass House featuring dramatic artwork suspended above open floor space to allow for community events and other activities. The vision for this project is to create an exciting indoor/outdoor exhibit that adds color and vibrancy in green, garden space, while providing a point of entry to the visual arts that appeals to all ages. The presentation features an interior exhibition of the artist’s work, a dramatic display of large scale installations in a garden setting, and newly created sculptures within the Glass House.”
For more on this story, see the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Seattle Times‘ coverage online.