Comments

1
The KEXP plan really is the best one of everything that was there. Put that at the present Fun Forest site, and then open up two other spots for the existing Fun Forest to move to and for Chihuly. Win-win, then.
2
Well, whats up with EMP? That to me is just as much a novelty as Chihuly. If my memory serves, nobody I knew in Seattle ever went there and could be fucked to give you any opinion about it. Every time I come home to Seattle I am reminded that EMP even exists at all. I went once and vowed never to return due to the unbelievably poor visiting experience (SO EXPENSIVE, boring, sterile, isolation by way of headset, things to do if you have money AFTER paying to get inside).

So if Chihuly is trying to bring that to the center... I'm glad I don't live in Seattle anymore...
3
KEXP? I can't really see people coming to see bands playing in a studio box vs. a dynamic stage performance.
Will this space be decided on who can do the most media promotion?
4
@3 - You can see KEXP's proposal here:

http://seattlecenter.com/downloads/ff/KE…

It's a lot more than a studio box.
5
it's already writ large:
"After due consideration, and with welcome public input, we the almost-secret committee have decided to host the Chihuly ego glass museum" [cue the mission accomplished banner and ope' the champagne]
6
I think it'll be Basic Plumbing that will move in there.
7
I look forward to this being workshopped to death for another 20 years while the arcade space remains an empty aluminum shell.
8
I'm sorry I said anything. The KEXP plan is worse than the Chihuly one I criticized.

@2, the EMP is also a mindboggling money pit that is only kept open by Paul Allen's vast embarrassment. I fully expect public meetings in twenty years about what to do with the building, now that no one even remembers who the rock stars celebrated within even were, after the city somehow gets snookered into buying the fucking thing from Allen (probably as some sort of ploy to keep the Seahawks in town, including a replacement for the by-then-unfashionable relic that is Qwest).
9
I wonder how much all that free public land would cost Chihulhy if he had to buy it on the open market ...

.... OMG! ....
10
@8,

It's also a warehouse for Allen's sci-fi memorabilia. Why anyone (even a billionaire) needs a model of Shai-Hulud, I really can't guess.
11
Fnarf: What don't you like about the KEXP plan?

I think that if the Chihuly museum was instead a "Seattle Glass" museum, supporting works of all the local glass artists, that would be awesome. But all in all, whatever they put there needs to be good for tourists (the main visitors of that area).
12
I didn't attend the meeting last night, but just spent a solid thirty minutes reading through the KEXP plan.

I am on page 55 of the 60 page proposal. This is the first time they have addressed how they will finance the project, and they devoted three sentences (out of 60 pages) to the explanation of their financing:

Annual revenue (of KEXP) projected for 2010 is $3.8 Million with net income of $223,000. A Capital Campaign
is planned to cover all costs, and in the interim, tax free bond financing will allow us to proceed immediately upon project selection. We have interest within our donor base to fund a building endowment for the station which will provide a guaranteed revenue source for operations and maintenance once construction is completed.


This isn't even a competitive proposal - the financing is dependent on their donor base, who have "interest" in funding the project, and their net income is nowhere near able to sustain the cost of developing the project.

I think it sounds like a cool idea for the Center, at least as described in the other 59 pages of the proposal. But it batshit nuts to suggest that it is anywhere in the ballpark of a competitive proposal.

13
@10
Why anyone (even a billionaire) needs a model of Shai-Hulud, I really can't guess.


Funny, my question would be who doesn't need a model of Shai-Hulud, let alone still suits and replica Weirding Modules?
14
I use the wierding modules when I go jogging in my track suit.
15
And what about an Alien queen? I've had days when one of those would have really come in handy...
16
Okay, so the Chihuly people estimate that 400,000 people annually would come to the "Museum"... Can we get some estimates from some non-Chihuly people now, please? Some non-invested folks who could come up with a number, too?

'Cause, I'm sorry, but I'm just not buying that 400,000 figure. Chihuly was the answer to a Jeopardy question a couple of weeks ago and not one of the contestants on the stage even ventured a guess. They were all like "Chi-hua-who?!?"

As my roommates and I were hollering at the screen.... sigh......
17
@11, what do you mean, besides everything?

The EMP is a temple to ultimately embarrassing sixties rock. KEXP is a temple to not-yet-embarrassing indie rock. That's a step down. KEXP may be a "non-profit" (sort of) and maybe even a form of "public" radio (but not really), but it IS NOT A PUBLIC AMENITY. It's a business. They're looking for office space.

The vast majority of Seattle residents neither know or care a lick about KEXP's broadcasts, and the great thing about radio is, if you don't want to listen, you don't have to listen. Unless you give them a platform in the Center. Look! Indie rock under every tree! Speakers in the bushes! Ooh, and a fountain -- of course, there's already a fountain at the Center, a much better one too.

The Chihuly plan, for better or worse, would draw some people to the Center. You can debate how many, and how desireable a sort of person, but surely some. KEXP would drive people AWAY.

Ooh, performance space! For what? Would people pay to see these performances? I doubt it very much. If the performances were capable of drawing significant paying audiences, they already would be. I'm not against the performing arts, but this sort of a deal only works with a subsidy, not as a revenue-enhancer. Which is what it needs to be.

My new proposal: bulldoze the entire fucking place and fill it with mixed-use residential-office-retail towers. This city isn't smart enough to build a public space that's for everyone.
18
@11 They could call it the "Museum of Glass!" Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?
Oh, wait.
19
@13,

I can definitely understand the still suits and weirding modules, but if that worm isn't life size, what's the point?
20
I, too, read the entire KEXP proposal and nowhere in it does it say WHY they need/want this particular space. They just want to move, and this is one option. A Slog commenter last week suggested they move into another space at Seattle Center (next to VERA Project, perhaps?), and it would be a win-win: The glass lovers would get their exhibit, the kiddie playground (part of the Chihuly proposal) would be built, and music lovers could get their radio station as well.

However: Sorry, but a capital campaign in this economic climate? Doesn't sound feasible. KEXP + Open Platform are lovely ideas, but unless they can find assured funding, they ain't happening any time in our near-future. Which will leave us with another patch of asphalt, thanks to Seattle's penchant to process issues to death.
21
Well, you could put some amusement park rides on the patch of asphalt. Oh.
22
@21 GusA, I'm actually a big fan of amusement park rides! Unfortunately, Seattleites have proven that they don't like them enough to patronize them on a regular basis. That's why the Fun Forest is going bye-bye: For every single person who's bemoaning the loss of the rides, apparently there's another 1,000 or so who're saying "Who gives a fuck?" There's nothing sadder than walking through the remnants of the Fun Forest and seeing a ride going around with one lonely kid on it.
23
Merry is right. No one outside of the region has ever heard of Chihuly and most who have heard of him couldn't care less! I heard a woman at a big glass artists exhibition in New York mention that she owned a Chihuly (she was from Seattle) and every one said, "Who?" People in the glass art business didn't know who he was!! That speaks volumes!

Nobody cares about him and nobody should! He's a horrible little man who treats all his assistants like crap and makes sculptures that look like giant sperm! Can you say Napoleon Complex?!! He might as well be making monster trucks out of glass!
24
Plus there's already a Museum of Glass/Chihuly wank-fest in Tacoma? How much of this can our region support and how much of our precious public space do we want to give him?!!

Let him hang his sperm in the EMP if he wants to. That way, none of the locals have to see them.
25
At the July 7 public meeting, many passionate and spirited speakers stated the value of KEXP, but provided little evidence that moving KEXP to the Fun Forest will uniquely serve to enhance the station’s programming and/or fulfill the Seattle Center RFP criteria. Curiously, in the 90 minutes I heard, there was not one single stakeholder from the Seattle music community willing to speak on behalf of KEXP’s proposal… no record store owners, club owners, concert promoters, record label staff, local musicians, etc. Perhaps those folks are against the idea, but don’t feel they can afford to be seen tipping any sacred cows?

Even a cursory analysis of the KEXP proposal (http://bit.ly/anNHf9) reveals a number of questionable programming assumptions and financial weaknesses which undermine its very premise:

On page 41, KEXP projects 700 annual in-studio performances accessible to the public, ranging in attendance from 20 to 100, with each person paying $14.75 for parking and concessions. That number of events is based on KEXP’s statement that in 2009 they produced 500 in-studio performances, presumably all at the Dexter studio? Do the math... with only 365 days in the year, 700 annual in-studio performances seems like quite a leap of logic.

Besides, anyone with knowledge of small touring bands would know that a high percentage of artists who would normally be willing to record a short in-studio radio session might not want to do the same in front of a public audience, even if KEXP lets them do their laundry first. That’s why bands do in-stores at great places like Easy Street and Sonic Boom - to make immediate sales, score free swag and to press the flesh with fans in a less schedule-sensitive environment.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say KEXP does provide all those performances and it does draw all those fans who spend all that money on parking and coffee… by KEXP’s estimate, that’s 34,000 visitors a year. That sounds more like a concert venue than a radio station. What are the practical implications with regard to city regulations, security, insurance, etc? And would KEXP effectively become a competitor to the city’s many small clubs and record stores? That’s a fragile ecosystem of which KEXP should be a vital component, not the dominant force.

Turning to page 42 of the proposal, we learn about the $248,000 worth of free Seattle Center advertising and on-air mentions that KEXP promises to deliver its listeners on behalf of the new landlord. That’s 3,650 times a year that supporting listeners will have to hear yet another “commercial” tagline.

Page 55 of KEXP’s proposal clearly states that a Capital Campaign is required because they don’t currently have the money to finance this project, with only $223,000 of net revenue expected in 2010. KEXP will need millions of dollars to pull this off, and you can bet that a healthy portion of the requests will be conducted over the air when they could instead be playing music. The project schedule on page 51 indicates the Campaign could last five months. One wonders how the 30% of KEXP’s donor base living outside of Seattle will feel about the lengthy beg-a-thon.

At best, this is a well-meaning idea that prematurely left the chute. At worst, it is another case of empire-building akin to the station’s ill-conceived expansion to NYC: http://bit.ly/9YPYnT

For over two decades, KCMU / KEXP has faced the admittedly difficult (though enviable) challenge of both growing its audience and increasing the quality / breadth of its core programming. The Seattle Center proposal does not adequately enhance those two areas relative to the financial risk involved. KEXP’s management, Board and Advisory Council would do well to reconsider this unnecessary expansion before foisting it on a loyal, hard-won audience and the local music community.

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