Editor’s note: This is the last in a three-part series exploring VAA’s plans for a new performing arts center.
Vashon Allied Arts recently held three open houses at the Blue Heron to show off preliminary designs for its proposed $16.5 million new facility — plans that evoked a wide range of reactions from the more than 200 Islanders who showed up to take a look.
The open houses, held on July 8, 9 and 12 at the Blue Heron Art Center, were billed as an opportunity for community members to give input on the process. Representatives from LMN Architects — the Seattle firm that has been hired to design the building — were on hand, as were VAA staff members, board trustees and others deeply involved in the project.
In some ways, the open houses were like First Friday gallery openings held at the Blue Heron. A generous spread of homemade cookies was laid out on a table, and an exhibit filled the space. But this time, the walls were adorned with architectural renderings, and a large model of the proposed new arts center commanded attention in the center of the room.
“I think it is important for people to get a chance to see it,” said Kirk Robinson, the Seattleite hired by VAA as project manager for the new building who attended all three events. “We want to get the community’s ideas — that’s the point. Nothing is set in stone yet.”
The drawings and models depicted a 20,000-square-foot edifice that would be glass-fronted from the ground to its roof at the building’s main entrance on the corner of Cemetery Road and Vashon Highway. The rest of the structure, clad in cedar shake and featuring a long outdoor porch, would rise 48 feet into the air and stretch 250 feet north to south on the land where the McFeeds building and another small house now stand next to the Blue Heron.
Many of the attendees were effusive about the look and function of the new arts center.
“I’m thrilled,” said Vashon High School principal Susan Hanson. “It’s very respectful of the corner and the way Vashon looks, but at the same time, it is very elegant and beautiful.”
Islander Harriet Van Buren also said she liked the design. “I’ve sung with Vashon Island Chorale, so I’m looking forward to this,” she said. “I’m happy.”
Marita Ericksen, a choral teacher who leads VAA’s Vashon Island Youth Chorus, agreed.
“This is going to be great,” said Ericksen, who went on to recount a story about how some of the pint-sized members of her chorus had cried during a recent show because the backstage area at the Blue Heron space was so crowded that some cast members had been knocked over as others made entrances. “Now, we’ll have space for everyone. It’s going to be beautiful.”
Sy Novak, a graphic artist who designs VAA’s newsletter, said that she thought the new building would provide an appropriate and much-needed venue for Vashon’s many talented performers.
“The facilities here don’t match the caliber of the performers,” she said. “If you have a performance in a facility that is not acoustically perfect, people blame the performers.”
Other Islanders, however, raised questions about the size and scope of the project.
“I liked the design,” said Deb Dammann, an Islander active in social service networks on Vashon. “But I’m concerned about the impact of the fundraising on other Island nonprofits. I think it is going to take years for this to balance itself out.”
Another viewer said the building looked too different from others that surrounded it.
“We’re sold on the need, but I think the design might be a tough sell based on the difference between this structure and the ones across the street,” said Dick Harvey.
Islander Bob Powell also questioned the look of the building.
“The first impression I got from looking at the plans — it would create a street corner like a windy downtown city block, with a large building with a minimum set back,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s a friendly facade. It’s just going to be a solid wall with the primary entrance on the east side. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to enhance the feel of the intersection there with the sweet small buildings.”
He also said he didn’t believe the proposed building would serve the full suite of artists on Vashon.
“I was personally hoping something that served the broader arts — not just performing arts,” he said. “I thought there’d be more classroom and studio space — more like the Pratt campus in Seattle — with all sorts of professional grade studios for glass and ceramics and metal.”
Bob Moses, an audio engineer and designer, questioned why the building was being built in the first place.
“I think it would be wonderful to have this type of facility, but do we need two or three of them?” Moses said — a reference to Vashon School District’s plans to build a new 275-seat auditorium less than half a mile away from VAA’s new theater and the continued development of Open Space for Arts and Community, a warehouse performance and event space opened in 2008 by UMO founders David Godsey and Janet McAlpin.
“If there are challenges to scheduling the high school facility, that just means it is being utilized … And what is this going to cost? I question whether we can afford this. We just scraped and scrimped to raise $500,000 for the schools and we barely made it. We’ve got the K2 building standing empty, the economy is in shambles and all this money is going to be spent on this luxury for a few people? I don’t get it.”
Other Islanders offered comments based on their long-term involvement with VAA.
Priscilla Atwood, who served as VAA’s board president in the mid-1990s, said her main concern was whether the new building could be sustained after it was built.
“As a numbers person, I’d love to see what the projections are — I’d love to be convinced,” she said. “I really care about this place and want to make sure it is going to work long term.”
Another Islander, John Candy, said he hoped the new building plays the same role in the community that the Blue Heron has played since VAA moved into the building in the early 1980s.
“I have lots of good memories of this place — a lot of neat things have happened here,” he said. “The new building has to be warm like this building has always been. It has to serve the community and be used. It’s a community-generating place just like Café Luna and Minglement.”
Chai Mann, another longtime VAA member and supporter, said he was simply impressed by the fact that VAA had gotten to the stage of showing drawings and seeking public input on the project.
“Just to get to this point is mind-boggling,” he said. “So whether you’re for it or against it, I think we all out to take off our hats to VAA at this point.”
Jason Everett, who directed VAA for nearly eight years, also applauded the effort, noting that it builds on the “considerable investment of time and resources” and the input of hundreds of community members who discussed the need for a new arts center during his tenure at the arts organization.
“After viewing the plans for the proposed Vashon Center for the Arts, I am pleased that VAA has chosen to build on the Blue Heron campus as it was always one of the preferred locations given the close proximity to the schools,” he said in an email to The Beachcomber.
“I am also pleased that the criteria for the size, the aesthetic and the sustainable nature of the facility developed during those years have been honored by the planning team and incorporated by the architects.”
