The Best of the Northwest, produced by the Northwest Crafts Alliance, will hold its 20th spring show at Qwest Field this upcoming weekend. While it is an anniversary for the event, its organizers and some participants are not in a celebratory mood. "I am afraid that the public will not come," Northwest Crafts Alliance executive director Kathleen Miller wrote in a letter. "Some residents in the Sand Point area are displeased with us because we moved downtown [from Magnuson Park], and they don't want to go there.... Some artists are mad because they don't think the show will succeed at Qwest." ARENA SPORTS' PROPOSALLast November, Hangar 27, the show's previous venue, closed due to fire codes. Currently, there are two primary proposals being debated about the future of the building. One proposal is from Arena Sports, a local sports club; the other is from a group called the Hangar 27 Organization, which aims to keep the hangar open for public use.Arena Sports would like to use the building for its classes and events. Its current building, also in Magnuson Park, is in disrepair, and Arena Sports CEO Don Crowe said it would cost about $23 million to repair."We have to move," Crowe said. "The current building needs major upgrades for us to have a long-term lease. The current building doesn't even have bathrooms or heat." Hangar 27 is especially appealing to Arena Sports because of the building's large size. "It has the large spans we need between columns," Crowe explained. "Our fields are 85 feet wide, so they don't fit into the typical warehouse. Hangar 27 is the only such building."Arena Sports is offering to pay $4 million toward renovating and operating the hangar. "At a time when we are cutting back on education and infrastructure because of budget cuts, it sure seems like the city could use their money elsewhere," Crowe said. "The other proposals also come from groups who have no operating experience, no capital, and expect the city to pay for everything.... We will generate significant revenues to the city to provide even more programs for the community."A PUBLIC-USE PROPOSALSeveral groups within the community dislike the Arena Sports proposal and the idea of a for-profit company leasing a public facility. They have contacted City Council members to express their opinions. Seattle City Council asked the Department of Parks and Recreation to get an alternative to the Arena Sports proposal, one that would maintain the hangar as a community space.According to its proposal, Hangar 27 Organization would "take over management of this facility, including bringing the building into compliance with all codes, manage building operations and booking of the facility.""The longer Hangar 27 is closed, the more costly and problematic it will be to open the building," Miller said. "It is entirely possible to keep the facility available for use as repairs and upgrades are completed." Both proposals would bring the hangar up to code. These include addressing the issues that resulted in the fire department closing the facility: asbestos spray, improved sprinkler system, roof repair, new lighting and new bathrooms.RELOCATIONHowever, the controversy primarily lies in whether a private company should own a public space. In 2005, Seattle Parks and Recreation issued a request for proposals for Hangar 27, one of 11 major city-owned building in the park that are not up to code."It will cost an estimated $50 million to bring them to usable condition by making seismic upgrades, accessibility improvements and improvements for tenant use," Seattle Parks and Recreation spokesperson Dewey Potter said. "[The tenants] no longer qualify for the occupancy permits necessary for the events that have been taking place in them."Both sides would agree that something needs to be done to the current building. As it stands now, nothing is occurring in the building. Groups that previously had events there, such as the Northwest Crafts Alliance, have had to relocate to other venues. "For several years our art event, Best of the Northwest, was the 'poster child' for the promotion of Hangar 27 as a public venue," Miller wrote.Crowe argues that public-private partnerships, such as what they are offering, have been around for a long time. "Our proposal is not a new idea," he said. "The [parks department has] partnered with us for nine years, and no one has complained. It is just now that they complain because they would have to move their events... These groups have already been hosting their events at these [other] venues. They just want something for nothing."[[In-content Ad]]
