Category Archives: Government

Great mural at Tacoma’s Fire Station #16

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Fire Station No. 16 at 7216 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, WA, 98406, is the site of art by Bob Henry titled Wilson Rams. The Tacoma-Pierce Co. Public Art Tour site (http://wspdsmap.ci.tacoma.wa.us/website/Art2/viewer.htm) says that the medium is Paint on canvas and the size is 10′ x 30′.

I love the bright colors and the fact that it is a local artist and a local scene! What I don’t like is that it is primarily visible from a small side street that leads to the driveway of the firestation and a small apartment complex. It would be great if more people could enjoy it!


It’s the End of the World, As We Know It

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Dear husband said he’d be happy to show me a splendid new place of the day and he took me here to South Tacoma Way and Sprague where they are tearing down the old Nally Valley overpass and have constructed the new one. This scene will not be here long! Husband and I agreed that it was very post apocalyptic. And nothing says Christmas Eve like Post Apocalyptic!

Transpire

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Lakewood Transit Center has this dramatic piece of public art known as Transpire by Mark Calderon. The website for the center http://projects.soundtransit.org/Projects-Home/STart-Public-Art-Program/Public-Art-Projects/Lakewood-Station.xml states the following:

Three intertwining spires create a radiant and elegant design inspired by the early history of settlement in the Lakewood area. Speaking of his inspiration, artist Mark Calderon said, “To me [the campfire] represents the center for food, warmth and community – in a way, the hub of the settler’s existence. I want my sculpture to be attractive in the same way—a place that is comfortable and enlivening where people may gather and where community forms.”

The Fern Hill Substation is located in the 8300 block of  Yakima Avenue in Tacoma. Puget Sound Energy states “To increase reliability for our customers and meet their growing demand for power in Pierce County, Puget Sound Energy is upgrading our existing low-voltage 55 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines to our now current standard of 115 kV. These projects will entail upgrading two substations and 12.5 miles of transmission line, and decommissioning our existing Fern Hill substation.”  The timeline to decommission the substation is 2012-2013. I wonder what one does with property that had been occupied by a substation!

To read more, go to http://pse.com/inyourcommunity/pierce/ConstructionProjects/Pages/Woodland-St-Clair.aspx

 

Carwein Auditorium in the Keystone Building, UWT

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Thursday evening dear daughter and I attended a roundtable discussion of those running for Tacoma City Council.  It was located in the Carwein Auditorium in the Keystone Building of the University of Washington, Tacoma. There were six candidates there with two of the candidates unable to attend.It was sponsored by the League of Women Voters Tacoma Pierce County.

http://www.lwvwa.org/tacoma/

The auditorium is obviously used as a classroom with desktops available on all the chairs.  We especially liked the cool paneling along the two main walls.  Though when I looked back at my photos of it, I realized that some of the holes had gum placed in them!

City County Building, Tacoma

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The City County Building at 930 Tacoma Avenue South, Tacoma houses the Pierce County Superior Court and last Wednesday was the site of a gathering of teachers in support of their union (Tacoma Education Association, aka TEA) http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/pc/abtus/ourorg/supct/abtussup.htm

Alaska Street Reservoir

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The Alaska Street Reservoir is located on the south side of South 19th Street between South Wilkeson and South Ainsworth.  There are trees painted on the side of the reservoir and for something so large it blends surprisingly well.  The reservoir provides drinking water for the city of Tacoma.

Honk! Honk! Goodbye Ruston Tunnel

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I knew when I read the paper yesterday that I needed to drive through the 1912 Ruston Tunnel one more time, honking all the way! And so I did, — four times actually, two in each direction. And there were plenty of other cars there too and everybody was honking and yelling and taking photos. The Tacoma News Tribune produced a nice write up about the tunnel which can be found here:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/07/11/1741529/honk-if-youll-miss-ruston-way.html

Be sure to check out the historic photo which is part of the article.

Lakewood Water Tower

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Lakewood Water Tower

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf

Today the family went to see the movie, Super 8, which we all enjoyed…way more than I expected. Anyway, there is a water tower featured in the movie, so tonight I stopped to consider the City of Lakewood Water Tower. I thought it looked nice with the blue tower against the blue sky. The tower is located on Bridgeport Road near the Lakewood Town Center.

The website for Super 8 is
http://www.super8-movie.com/