Even though parts of it are kind of hokey, I love the Seattle Center and enjoy spending time there. There are always things to do, really great people-watching, and sitting by the International Fountain reading a books is an excellent way to spend an afternoon during pleasant weather. The Seattle Center is run under the provisions of the Master Plan of 1990 but the people who manage the Center say that plan is outdated and have suggested some new versions of the plan, summarized below:

1. ‘No Action Alternative’–This is a straightforward plan with its title matching its contents; this alternative also includes a Theater District Plan and Theater Commons and the “triangle” property across the street that the Center doesn’t own but desires;
2. ‘Center of the Center - The Green Frame’–This plan organizes green space in a frame around the Center House and a band of buildings and spaces extending west from Fifth Ave. This does not include buying Memorial Stadium [for those who didn't know, it is actually owned by the School District] but would include demolishing the Fun Forest and using its space for a ‘water feature’ outdoor seating, and landscaping, amongst other changes;
3. ‘The Green Window’–Similar to the ‘Green Frame’, only the green space would be oriented towards Broad Street and downtown in a large green ‘window’. A secondary ‘window’ would face the ‘Uptown neighborhood’ at the NW corner of the campus. This plan would include acquiring Memorial Stadium from the Seattle SD;
4. ‘East West Axis’–in this plan, the green space would cover the entire east-west axis of the grounds, from Key Arena on First Ave N through the campus all the way over to Fifth Ave N. Memorial Stadium would be purchased and the Mercer Arena would be redeveloped privately as a hotel or commercial development.

You can read details about the proposals yourself online at the Seattle Center site and if you’d like to comment on them, well, you should attend the public meeting which is June 28, 2007, in the Lopez Room at the Center’s Northwest Rooms (at the corner of 1st Ave NW & Republican) beginning at 6:30 pm.