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City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: Mayor Announces $75 million levy to save Pike Place Market
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
3/25/2008 12:30:00 PM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alex Fryer (206) 684-8358
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Mayor Announces $75 million levy to save Pike Place Market
‘We’ve saved it from the wrecking ball;
now we need to save it from the ravages of time’
SEATTLE -Mayor Greg Nickels today called for a $75 million levy to replace and rehabilitate outdated infrastructure in the 100-year-old Pike Place Market.
Nickels noted Seattle voters brought the Market back from the brink of destruction back in 1971. “We saved it from the wrecking ball; now we need to save it from the ravages of time so it can be around for another 100 years,” said Nickels.
“The Market and its buildings have withstood some hard use since the last renovations. Thirty years ago, when those renovations were done, the Market was emerging from years of decline and neglect, and no one then could have foreseen that the reinvigorated nine acres would host millions more visitors annually than it had in the past,” said Preservation and Development Authority Council Chair Jackson Schmidt. “A victim of that success, the Market now has reached the point where many buildings and systems are either tired or completely worn out.”
The last major renovations to the Market were made in the mid-1970s with $50 million in federal Urban Renewal grants. Since then the Market has been in constant use with more than 10 million visitors each year, 500 full time residents and 240 businesses. Many of the systems in the Market’s infrastructure are well past the end of their useful lives. Approximately $1 million is spent each year for just basic upkeep of the Market’s current buildings and core systems.
In an in-depth analysis on Market buildings, the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (PDA) determined what needs replacement or rehabilitation. The PDA worked closely with Market merchants, tenants and other stakeholders to develop the plan.
The bulk of Nickels’ proposed six-year levy will go for major repairs and upgrades to PDA-owned Market buildings with a portion for capital improvements to Victor Steinbrueck Park at the north end of the Market. Specific building improvements include:
- A new high-efficiency central heating and cooling plant, and major electrical upgrades in the Hillclimb;
- New electrical and mechanical rooms in the Economy, Corner, Sanitary and Triangle Buildings;
- A new elevator in “flower row” to provide wheelchair accessibility to all levels of the Leland and Fairley Buildings, and in Corner and Economy Buildings to provide accessibility to the upper floors of these buildings;
- New Hillclimb stairs from Western Avenue to Pike Place;
- New restrooms in the Sanitary, Soames Dunn and Economy Market Buildings; and
- Seismic upgrades to the Economy, Corner, Sanitary and Triangle Buildings.
Pending City Council approval, the levy will go to Seattle voters on the November ballot. The levy will run from 2009 to 2014 and will cost the median Seattle homeowner about $37 per year (based on a $420,000 home). This is $66 less per year than the existing Parks levy, which expires at the end of this year.
“Last year we celebrated the Market’s centennial. For 100 years it has been the heart of our city and one of the most recognizable sights in Seattle. But most people don’t see the Market’s deteriorating infrastructure. This levy will allow us to shore up the Market so it can be more than just a photogenic tourist attraction,” Nickels said. “This is the Market’s year. After a century of service, it is time.”
See a map of the PDA buildings - Acrobat PDF
Proposed Pike Place Market Levy Overview - Acrobat PDF
Pike Place Market Renovation Goals and Objectives - Acrobat PDF
Visit the mayor’s Web site at www.seattle.gov/mayor. Get the mayor’s inside view on efforts to promote transportation, public safety, economic opportunity and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm
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Office of the Mayor
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