Eric Williams of the News Tribune reports on Seattle’s plan to update KeyArena:
A report providing a gauge on the City of Seattle’s chances of receiving state-authorized funding for a KeyArena upgrade was planned for completion by the end of December.
However, 2009 is here and the legislative task force charged with putting that report together, outlining how to spend King County taxes, has yet to meet, said Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, co-chair of the group.
Hunter said it’s unlikely that the group will meet before the Legislature convenes Jan. 12, and that the task force will have to put together a report during the first few weeks of the session.
How much attention that report receives is unknown because lawmakers will be spending most of their time trying to figure out how to balance the state budget, with a projected deficit of more than $5 billion.
“The reality is, we are going to issue a report that will have some weight in the Legislature,” Hunter said. “But this is obviously a very contentious issue, and it’s going to be dwarfed by the whole budget disaster.”
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Competition for the funding is fierce, and includes a $150 million request from the University of Washington to complete a $300 million proposal to revamp Husky Stadium and a $766 million expansion project put forth by the Washington State Convention and Trade Center to double the size of its current downtown Seattle facility. King County arts groups, youth athletic programs and low-income housing programs also want a piece of the pie.
