It's official: Chihuly and KEXP to Seattle Center | Development

Mayor Mike McGinn, working with the Seattle Center and the Space Needle Corporation, announced a decision Dec. 15 that will bring both a Dale Chihuly glass museum and independent radio station KEXP to the Seattle Center while laying the groundwork for a new playground and future open space.

It's a decision that officials hope will satisfy all parties invested in the future of the Seattle Center.

"You may not love everything," McGinn said. "But there's going to be something here you love."

“That’s the beauty of this place,” Seattle Center Director Robert Nellams said. “It’s something for everybody, not everything for everybody.”

As previously supported by a recommendation committee, the Chihuly Exhibition, a 50,000-square-foot space highlighting Chihuly’s glass work, will move into the former Fun Forest site.

The museum, which will not receive any public funding, is expected to bring in $24 million to the city over the next 20 years, according to the Office of the Mayor.

McGinn said the Chihuly Exhibition will create more finished, landscaped open space in the Seattle Center, and Seattle City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw said redesigns of the museum allow the art to be enjoyed by non-paying customers as well.

As part of its agreement with the city over the Chihuly Exhibition, the Space Needle Corporation will be putting $2 million toward a 1.5-acre children’s playground to be located just south of Memorial Stadium. The initial $1 million will be used to fund a the design process for the new playground, and the second $1 million will be used to maintain the space during the next two decades.

Bagshaw said she wanted to make the Seattle Center more family oriented. The playground, which will be designed by local artists and landscape architects, will be a place children will beg to be taken to and their parents and grandparents will  be happy to go, she said.

KEXP was one of the strongest contestants for the Fun Forest site before the Chihuly Exhibition was eventually recommended. The radio station will now be moving into the Seattle Center Northwest Rooms at the corner of First Avenue and Republican Street.

KEXP’s new home will have glass walls, allowing Seattle Center visitors to watch DJs and bands at work, and will house hundreds of free performances every year in the studio and on an outdoor stage, according to the Office of the Mayor.

McGinn said he isn’t allowed to say KEXP is the coolest radio station in the universe, but he said it is very cool. He said the radio station will activate the site, stimulate the Queen Anne economy and promote the Seattle Center across the globe on a daily basis.

Also included in the Dec. 15 announcement was a commitment to bring more open green space to the north Fun Forest site, similar to what had been proposed by Open Platform, and to move forward with the renovation of Memorial Stadium, beginning with the removal of the south wall. A committee will be formed to spearhead these efforts.

McGinn said everyone involved in the decision worked hard to put all the elements together and hopes the decision meets the expectations of the public. They wanted to make the Seattle Center more vibrant, more child friendly and more visited, he said.

The mayor's proposal will not go in front of the Seattle City Council for approval. Bagshaw said the council is supportive of the plans, but there are still some rough edges that need to be worked out.

If approved by the council, the Chihuly Exhibition could open by early 2012.

Other changes coming to the Seattle Center include the construction of the SIFF Film Center and the installation of a 200-foot-tall observation wheel this spring.