Quote Originally Posted by swingline View Post
From a preservation standpoint, the UA theater could have been saved. With enough money, almost any building can be restored, regardless of condition. What could not be saved was a business model for the venue, whether for-profit or non-profit. With no less than six 1k-4k capacity performance spaces located within one mile, what niche would the UA fill? Any model would almost certainly have to be non-profit and in that instance, after a $50 million restoration, the venue would likely need something on the order of a $50 million endowment to fund operations. A $100 million philanthropy effort for a performance venue in an already venue-saturated market? Sad as it is to lose a historic theater [albeit one that architecturally on its exterior only contributed a blank brick box], the greater harm to the city’s redevelopment is the approval by the City Planning Commission of the surface parking fronting Grand Circus park. This is just awful placemaking. As part of this project, Olympia Development should have been required to create some sort of building on the GCP frontage whether a small standalone building or a parking structure on the whole site with first floor retail.
Agree, agree, agree. This is the most realistic answer. The theater could have been saved, at a huge cost, but would likely have not found a profitable use at this point. But that doesn't absolve the City and Olympia from their mistakes on this lot, as well as others.