Our Voice: Kennewick should give The Link the green light
If Kennewick city staff believe the time is right to try once again to garner support for the expansion of the Three Rivers Convention Center campus, then the city council should give the go-ahead.
The issue is scheduled for discussion at tonight’s city council meeting. If the proposal gets the expected green light, The Link could go before voters as early as August.
That’s the name of the new $35 million plan to build a 2,300-seat theater, add 50,000 square-feet to the Three Rivers Convention Center and redesign the Toyota Center.
It is an ambitious blueprint that would require a new sales tax of an additional 2 cents to a $10 purchase. We think it’s worth it — especially when we consider the millions of tourism dollars it would generate and the new amenities it would provide the community.
The burden of a sales tax is borne by all those making purchases in the Tri-Cities, so that means visitors shopping in Kennewick will help pay for it. If people keep that in mind, perhaps it will be an easier sell.
The Three Rivers Convention Center was in desperate need of expansion when voters rejected a plan to raise the sales tax by one-tenth of a percent in 2013. That would have paid for a $20 million expansion, but the measure failed.
Back then, tourism officials lamented the loss of potential convention groups that were opting to hold their events in other cities because our facility is too small. There also was concern current clients were on the verge of outgrowing the venue.
If the convention center’s space was inadequate a few years ago, it is even more so now.
The Link plan also brings the construction of a Broadway-style theater to the package, which would allow for multiple showings of touring productions which are now limited because the Toyota Center — where they are currently performed — must constantly be set up for hockey and football games.
The Link would contain a theater with permanent seating, stage and orchestra pit. In addition, the tax measure would pay for a 30,000-square-foot lobby and reorient the Toyota Center toward Vista Field, which is being developed by the city and the Port of Kennewick to be a tourism hub.
Besides the cost and the additional construction, the main difference between this plan and the previous proposal is that the sales tax increase for The Link has a sunset of 15 to 20 years when the bond debt is paid off. The 2013 plan was a tax with no end in sight.
This is an important detail for those who support the idea of a regional public facilities district. If Kennewick voters approve the sales tax, the regional district will not be able to request any sales tax increases until the Kennewick tax is no longer being collected, according to state law.
But that doesn’t mean the regional district is dead. It means its mission will be put on hold, and perhaps in 15 to 20 years the Tri-Cities will be ready to finance a regional project that it’s not ready for now.
If Kennewick is ready with a project, then city officials should not wait. The convention center needs to be expanded, and tying it to the construction of a new theater and renovations at the Toyota Center make sense.
This is an exciting idea. We hope Kennewick can pull it off.
This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Our Voice: Kennewick should give The Link the green light."