Letter: We need a Tri-City solution to building better facilities

Julie Mabry, I loved your letter published on Dec. 15 (Oz ruined by obstructed view at Toyota Center). I love that fact that you live in Pasco. You are right, the Toyota Center is a terrible venue for a musical or dramatic production. We need a better venue.

But wait, didn’t Kennewick voters just turn down The Link? So, what to do, what to do? I have two proposals. First, either city officials from all Tri-City cities can come together and propose a regional solution to the problem because residents from the entire area would benefit from a new venue. It is not fair to build a new facility totally on the backs of Kennewick residents.

Or second, rerun The Link but finance it through the entities that will end up benefiting the most from it: the hotels and restaurants in the immediate area, perhaps a radius of a mile and a half. A 10 percent surcharge on hotels and restaurants in the area would be fair because they would be the ones benefiting from the increased business The Link would generate if built next to the Toyota Center.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Letter: We need a Tri-City solution to building better facilities."