Big thanks to the King County Council (including Joe McDermott, who represents our District 8), King County Executive Dow Constantine and 4Culture for the “Saving Landmarks” grants announced Nov. 23, 2015, for the Admiral Theater and Alki Homestead.
Our organization secured landmark status for the Admiral Theater 26 years ago and for the Alki Homestead 20 years ago. The Admiral, whose lobby was the Portola Theater built in 1919 and which opened as a large theater in 1942, is poised for a $1.2 million renovation and restoration project next spring. The Alki Homestead is in the midst of a massive restoration project following a 2009 fire that damaged a portion of the 1904 building.
The grants for each are $95,000 for the Admiral Theater and more than $45,000 for the Alki Homestead. (The latter grant comes on the heels of a $15,000 4Culture grant awarded the Homestead last summer toward restoration of the restaurant’s iconic neon sign.) Our organization assisted with the applications for both landmarks.
McDermott said in a statement, “As a lifelong West Seattle resident, I grew up going to the Admiral Theatre and Alki Homestead. I am proud to promote the rich cultural history in West Seattle through the Building for Culture grant program.”
The funding for maintenance, repairs and preservation was allocated from 4Culture’s Building for Culture Program and unanimously approved by the County Council and signed into law by Constantine.
Building for Culture is a partnership between King County and 4Culture, King County’s cultural services agency, using bonds backed by the hotel-motel tax to build, maintain, expand, preserve and improve new and existing cultural facilities.
After the council approved the creation of the Building for Culture Program, 4Culture put out a request for proposals to nonprofit arts, heritage and cultural organizations and eligible public agencies, as well as owners of national-, state-, or local-designated or eligible landmark properties. 4Culture then convened independent peer panels composed of arts, heritage and preservation professionals and other community representatives to review applications and make the final selections.
The bonds supporting these projects are made possible by early retirement of the Kingdome debt. State law requires that hotel-motel tax revenues King County collects this year after repayment of the Kingdome debt be directed to arts and cultural programs.
