Anacortes event center plans progressing

The Anacortes City Council and the Port of Anacortes commissioners voted unanimously to authorize the Port’s executive director to enter into an interlocal agreement regarding the conceptual design of an event center at the corner of Ninth Street and R Avenue at a joint meeting at Anacortes City Hall Monday evening.

The Port has been discussing a future event center for Anacortes since 2016. In 2021, it announced it would close the Transit Shed as an event center and its permanent return to maritime industrial use after 2023. It closed Dec. 31. The city and port committed to cooperating and have been engaged in discussions to solve this community need.

“We envision a building with a marine aesthetic … drawing inspiration from iconic landmarks in the area, we aim to create a space that is a reflection of our community, fostering connections and benefits for the entire community,” said Mayor Matt Miller.

Miller explained the venue would be suitable for large scale events – Bier on the Pier, Uncorked, Boat & Yacht Show –community events hosted by nonprofits and private weddings. It will have banquet seating.

Plans are for the port to provide the land and manage day-to-day construction. The city will fund construction from lodging tax revenue and will own and operate the venue through policies articulated in the next interlocal agreement.

The goals for the conceptual phase of the project include identifying project teams, consensus on minimum design criteria such as size and capacity; vetting of project criteria with stakeholders, i.e., location; support of downtown core; seating for 400; conceptual design; estimating construction costs; and an outline of responsibility for adjacent park area for event “spill-out” and public access.

Initial estimates for the first phase of this project are $95,000 with the city and port sharing costs 50/50.

While all elected officials championed the cooperative nature of the proposed agreement, a few caveats were expressed, particularly the use of lodging tax funding. Public comments emphasized concerns over noise at the marina and traffic congestion, though most who spoke were in favor.

Mark Lione, owner of Cap Sante Inn, expressed his concerns over using lodging tax dollars, asking, “If final cost is between $345 and $350 million – which will be devastating to nonprofits – how do we fund it on an ongoing basis?” He suggested a bond issue with lodging tax dollars paying the bond.

Pat Barrett, a local financial advisor who supports and underwrites for nonprofits, cautioned everyone to be aware not to use all the money from lodging tax dollars upon which nonprofits depend. “Lodging tax dollars is seed money. We would be doing them [nonprofits] a disservice.”

Councilmember T.J. Fantini explained the new center would generate future lodging tax revenues for nonprofits.

Councilmember Christine Cleland-McGrath pointed out there were only three centers in Skagit County that came close to their proposal – the Swinomish Casino, McIntyre Hall and Maple Hall in La Conner. None compares to the proposed event center in Anacortes for its size, kitchen facilities or scheduling availability.

The full agreement will be posted online the end of this week at portofanacortes.com/doing-business/interlocal-agreements.