Arts organizations object to proposed Seattle Center light rail location

A concerned coalition of artists and arts organizations recently presented an open letter to the Sound Transit Board, requesting that the upcoming Seattle Center light rail station be located on Mercer Street.

The request would shift the current plan to build the station on Republican Street, so that years of development and construction would not disrupt current arts organizations in the Seattle Center core.

“The current preferred alternative that the Sound Transit Board has selected is right in the heart of this Seattle Center campus,” said Jane Zalutsky, executive director of the Seattle Center Foundation. “What our organizations are saying is that is not a good choice. It's actually a choice that will put several organizations into an existential crisis, [because] they may not survive the time period of construction.”

More than 200 artists and organizations signed the letter, but there are five organizations that would be at ground zero of the proposed Republican Street location — SIFF, KEXP, The Vera Project, The Seattle Rep, and Cornish Playhouse.

“We're concerned about how the area will get smothered,” said Tom Mara, executive director of SIFF. “That would keep people from accessing the Seattle Center campus and thus toppling over organizations that are there for the reason for the station to be built in the first place.”

Both Mara and Zalutsky agree that the light rail station will have a positive impact for arts and culture in the area. The station will provide a critical transit option that will allow more people to visit the area for shows and events. But if current business is halted for years, many of these organizations fear that they won’t survive.

“We want to make sure that organizations are there for not only the interim, but for the long term,” Mara said. “I'm just worried… That particular plan, up against Republican [Street] and Warren [Avenue North], would just be detrimental.”

The arts groups presented their letter to the Sound Transit Board at a public meeting last week. Zalutsky says their group has endorsed the Mercer Street option along with the Uptown Alliance, Mercer Stakeholders, and the City of Seattle.

“This letter by these 220 creative professionals is asking the Sound Transit Board to carefully consider how to pick a station that will be the least impactful,” Zalutsky said. “We know there'll be impacts, we know they'll have to be mitigation, but we're looking for the least impactful choice here.”

In a statement via email, Sound Transit said, “The Sound Transit Board requested further studies for the Ballard Link Extension in July 2022 after reviewing the Draft EIS and comments from Tribes, the public and agency partners. Near Seattle Center, staff will explore connecting South Lake Union/Harrison station to Seattle Center/Mercer station to either north tunnel portal locations. Staff will also explore shifting the Seattle Center Republican station west.”

The Board asked for staff to complete these studies by February 2023. After submission and review of these studies, the Sound Transit Board will make their final decision on the location.