Free the Chihuly Bridge!
May. 22, 2008 at 10:58am
Petition signatures coming in!
I just stopped by and picked up the petitions from Black Water - 64 signatures! Not bad! Sure, minus Bob Hope, Charlie the Poodle and probably a few others, that brings us down to around 60- that's still not bad! I see the online petition is nearing the 50 mark - keep it up! Spread the link!
Please print out a petition and drop them by your favorite stores - we need as many signatures as we can get!
Oh, and we still need to track down some board members. Does anyone have some time to Google?
May. 15, 2008 at 7:11am
Help find Washington State Historical Society board members!
Here are the email addresses I have so far. Can you help fill in the blanks? I'll update this list as you post them. Thanks!
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Washington State Historical Society Board Members (aka The Deciders):
Gary Alexander, Olympia - alexander.gary@leg.wa.gov
State Representative
Charles W. Bingham, Fox Island
Retired Senior Executive, Weyerhaeuser Company
Charlotte N. Chalker, Tacoma - cchalker@gth-law.com
Attorney at Law, Gordon Thomas Honeywell Malanca Peterson & Daheim
James P. Dawson, Puyallup
Financial Planner, LPL Financial Services
Melanie Dressel, Gig Harbor - mdressel@columbiabank.com
President & COO, Columbia Bank
Robert Ficken, Issaquah
Historian
Leonard Forsman, Suquamish
Chairman, Suquamish Tribe
Billy Frank, Jr., Olympia
Chairman, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission
Daniel K Grimm, Puyallup
Director, Doughty Hanson & Co.
Denny Heck, Olympia
Retired President of TVW
Jim Honeyford, Sunnyside - honeyford.jim@leg.wa.gov
Washington State Senator
Tom Huff, Gig Harbor
Retired Washington State Representative
John Hughes, Hoquiam
Editor and Publisher, The Daily World
Sam Hunt, Olympia
State Representative
Larry Kopp, Tacoma
Managing Member, Globe Capital
Ottie Ladd, Lakewood
Real Estate Investor
Richard Larson, Tacoma
Market President, Bank of America
Alex McGregor, Colfax
The McGregor Company
P.O. Box 740, Colfax, WA, 99111
509-397-4355
Antone Minthorn, Pendleton, Oregon
Former Chairman, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
George Moynihan, Issaquah
Retired Director of Pacific Science Center
Royce Pollard, Vancouver - mayor@ci.vancouver.wa.us
Mayor, City of Vancouver
Harriet Spanel, Bellingham - spanel.harriet@leg.wa.gov
Washington State Senator
Victoria Woodards, Tacoma - vwoodards@tacomaparks.com
Board of Park Commissioners, Metro Park Tacoma
Liping Zhu, Cheney - lzhu@mail.ewu.edu
Professor of History
Eastern Washington University
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS
Christine O. Gregoire Governor - www.governor.wa.gov/contact/
Sam Reed Secretary of State - sreed@secstate.wa.gov
Terry Bergeson Superintendent of Public Instruction
President: Daniel K Grimm
Vice-President: Charlotte Chalker
Vice-President: Alex McGregor
Treasurer: Melanie Dressel
Secretary/Director: David L. Nicandri - dnicandri@wshs.wa.gov
http://washingtonhistory.org/wshs/board.htm
Other contacts:
David A. Zeeck - david.zeeck@thenewstribune.com
Executive Editor and Senior Vice President of News, TNT
David Seago - david.seago@thenewstribune.com
Editorial Page Editor
May. 14, 2008 at 7:45am
Free the Bridge: How We Got Here
The following is provided as a public service on how the Free the Bridge movement came to be.
Sept 21, 2006, 6:46am: Kevin's Downtown construction mini mystery: http://www.kevinfreitas.net/journal/glass-bridge-gate-removal/
Sept 21, 2006, 12:46pm: Mystery solved: http://www.kevinfreitas.net/journal/glass-bridge-blocking-wall/
Includes links to easement docs.
Sept 27, 2006: Exit133 - WSHM's Donor Wall To Muck Up Pedestrian Flow? http://www.exit133.com/1098/wshms-donor-wall-to-muck-up-pedestrian-flow
Thread gets overheated - comments turned off after only 2 days.
Sept 27th, 2006: TNT editor's blog - The long-lost tribute to Save our Station: http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/oped/?title=the_long_lost_tribute_to_save_our_statio&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
Ebjornson reminds us that the Project for Public Spaces made a recommendation to "Open up the fence to create direct access to the bridge from Pacific."
Sept 28th, 2006: TNT coverage - Stop-work order issued for History Museum wall: http://dwb.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/6126367p-5365382c.html
Mentions role of blogs and quote's RR's "fat cats" comment.
Sept 29, 2006: The Donor Wall - Follow Up: http://www.exit133.com/1108/the-donor-wall-follow-up?commented=1#c002504
Oct 2006: RR Anderson's momentous "Moat with Crocodiles":
http://tacoma.web.design.googlepages.com/theWALL.jpg
October 22nd, 2006: Julie Anderson's Op-ed TNT piece - Wall debate could launch talks about downtown's future: http://dwb.thenewstribune.com/opinion/insight/story/6182722p-5406285c.html
Julie's famous "Wrong problem. Wrong solution." letter.
Nov 1, 2006: Kevin's "Tacoma Century Park Sketches" post: http://www.kevinfreitas.net/misc/century-park-ideas/
Readers were asked to submit their own designs for Century Park.
Feb 2, 2007: Exit133 forum post "THE WALL": http://www.exit133.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=180&action=new
April 11, 2007: No 'donor wall' but stop work order lifted: http://www.kevinfreitas.net/journal/wshm-stop-work-lifted/
May 10, 2007: Kevin's "WSHM fence barrier to a more vibrant downtown" opinion post: http://www.kevinfreitas.net/journal/wshm-fence-barrier-vibrant-downtown/
May 1, 2008: David Boe's "Set the Chihuly Bridge Free" post: http://www.exit133.com/3179/imagine-tacoma-set-the-chihuly-bridge-freeThe spark was re-ignited on May Day 2008
May 9, 2008: RR Anderson creates a fence kicking wiener:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tacoma-cartoonist-society/2479188378/
May. 13, 2008 at 8:06am
Downloadable petition to Free the Bridge!
The online petition is taking off, but for those of you who prefer to put pen to paper, here's a pdf version of the petition. Print a few extras to give to friends and to leave in your favorite stores - we'll round them up in a few weeks.
Download here: http://www.urbandetails.com/free-the-bridge-petition.pdf
May. 12, 2008 at 10:10am
Sign the online petition to Free the Bridge!
Jennifer B from TacomaMama.com was awesome enough to create an online petition to Free the Bridge. Please forward to everyone you know.
Thanks Jen!
WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, support the removal of the fence currently blocking the proper and direct entrance to the Chihuly Bridge of Glass from Pacific Avenue.
The fence significantly impedes access to the Foss Waterway, the Bridge of Glass, poses unnecessary accessibility barriers and is a poor example of urban design. A year ago, the community successfully rallied to stop the construction of a brick wall slated to replace the fence. This wall would have all but entirely blocked the view of the Chihuly Bridge from Pacific Avenue.
Now it's time to finish the job and remove the fence for good to provide direct pedestrian access to the Foss Waterway and the Bridge of Glass which Tacomans have spent millions to build and restore.
Description/History:
This petition supports the removal of the fence blocking direct access to Tacoma's Chihuly Bridge of Glass from Pacific Avenue.
The fence significantly impedes access to the Foss Waterway, the Bridge of Glass, poses unnecessary accessibility barriers and is a poor example of urban design. A year ago, the community successfully rallied to stop the construction of a brick wall slated to replace the fence. This wall would have all but entirely blocked the view of the Chihuly Bridge from Pacific Avenue.
Now it's time to finish the job and remove the fence for good to provide direct pedestrian access to the Foss Waterway and the Bridge of Glass which Tacomans have spent millions to build and restore.