Sitting here on the cold, red concrete steps of Tollefson Plaza on a gray weekday afternoon, I try to imagine what this wasteland in the heart of Tacoma would look like filled with people.
I have a few timely ideas about how to make it happen.
The City of Tacoma built this public space with the intention that folks would flock to it. But the no-frills budget meant that many of the design features that would have made it homey got dumped at the last minute. That left a slab of uninviting concrete and an unmoving water feature.
By this time next week, the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber should have primary control over the action in downtown Tacoma’s Tollefson Plaza. A master license negotiated between the Chamber and City Hall allows the Chamber to organize events big and small to turn this into a people place. The agreement just needs approval of the Chamber board.
By June or July, the City of Tacoma should have installed chairs, tables and garbage cans. The events will begin with regular Friday lunchtime concerts and food vendors, according to Joanne Buselmeier, the Chamber’s finance and administration manager.
In addition, the Chamber will hire a dedicated event coordinator who will “continue to work on a couple of big events,” Buselmeier said.
With no big events firmed up yet, let’s jump-start the creative event planning process with my Top Seven TP Extravaganzas – guaranteed to draw crowds and commerce.
1. BADA BING
A weekend of all-Bing all the time. Bing as in the late Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby, perhaps Tacoma’s most famous native.
Build it around his 1903 birth date: May 3. Show some of his old movies – “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” “Going My Way,” “White Christmas” – outdoors on a sheet draped on the side of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel. How about a Bing impersonator and band to play sets of the crooner’s old hits? Get the Washington State History Museum to curate a temporary exhibit of Crosby memorabilia and stories. Hire a Bingo caller for a series of games with prizes. For a guest appearance, bring in his famous daughter, Mary Crosby, who played Kristin Shepard on the TV series “Dallas.” (She shot J.R., remember?)
The guy’s tied for second on the list of all-time stars list. His movies sold more tickets than anyone except John Wayne and Clark Gable. He has 23 gold and platinum records. Why has this not happened before?
2. SISTER CITY BREWFEST
Fly in kegs from Tacoma’s 10 sister cities from around the world: Aalesund, Norway; Cienfuegos, Cuba; Davao City, Philippines; Fuzhou, China; George, South Africa; Gunsan, South Korea; Kiryat Motzkin, Israel; Kitakyushu, Japan; Taichung, Taiwan; Vladivostok, Russia. Supplement it with a weekend of music on the plaza from those countries.
Sure, this event would really rock if Tacoma had a sister city in Germany. But, hey, the local organizing committees could use the beer as a draw to showcase the best of our world’s sisters.
3. SMALL SHIPS
We know now about Tall Ships in Tacoma. How about hosting a national convention of the Ships in Bottles Association of America? You know, those folks who use long tweezers to build models of the Tall Ships inside clear glass bottles? Let’s put a uniquely Tacoma twist on it: Glass artists could blow special artistic bottles at mobile furnaces in the plaza, and the model builders could create newfangled works of art inside them while we watch. Auction them off to support the Working Waterfront Maritime Museum.
4. RUBE-A-RAMA
Have you heard of Rube Goldberg? His name has become synonymous with nonsensical, zany mechanical machines that take 20 or more steps to complete a simple task. (Think of the breakfast-making contraption actor Dick Van Dyke’s character devised in the 1968 motion picture “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”)
Some places around the country host Rube Goldberg machine contests for high schools as an inspiration for the science-minded. (I built one for a science fair in junior high.) Let’s gin up a contest of our own for high schools, invite local artists to create artistic versions of their own for sale, and display it all in the plaza.
5. TACOMA ON ICE
In December, leading up to Christmas, erect a portable skating rink. Open the plaza to ice sculptors. Musicians can showcase their holiday tunes. Santa could make an appearance. It’ll bring the shoppers downtown throughout the season.
6. SALMONCHANTED EVENING
Our ode to salmon and the restoration of the Commencement Bay ecosystem. All salmon all the time. The Puyallup Tribe of Indians can underwrite and participate in festivities paying tribute to the creature that’s provided sustenance throughout this region’s history. Challenge our local chefs to create unique salmon dishes for us to buy at their booths.
Pattern it after The Clearwater Festival (www.clearwater.org), which fuses environmental advocacy with entertainment on the Hudson River in New York to celebrate the restoration of oyster beds and fish runs following decades of industrial pollution. Clearwater even sponsors a short film festival built around the concern-for-earth theme.
7. ROCA RAMA DING DONG
Indulge me while I resurrect an idea I conceived and wrote about in 2004. (Alas, no one ran with it.) How many pieces of Almond Roca can you eat in six minutes, not including the gold foil wrapper? Let’s celebrate the innovation, longevity and treats of Tacoma’s world famous candy company, Brown & Haley, with a weekend music-and-desserts showcase wrapped around a signature event: a gastrointestinal battle. The International Federation of Competitive Eating would bring in its sanctioning authority to preside over professionals who would down as many pieces of Roca as possible in the timed event.
You may recall I shipped a barrel of Roca to Eric “Badlands” Booker, the holder of many competitive eating records, including Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts (49, eight minutes) and mixed Snickers, Milky Way and 3 Musketeers bars (two pounds, six minutes). Upon sampling Roca, Badlands told me, “The candy is delicious. It would make a good, challenging contest in my opinion. If you decide to go further with it, you can count me in.”
Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785
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