Kirkland Arts Center to benefit from King County’s Building for Culture grant
Published 6:00 am Sunday, November 29, 2015
The following is a release from King County:
The Kirkland Arts, along with the Tateuchi Center, KidsQuest and Bellevue Youth Theater, will receive an economic boost from a King County program. The program will help to maintain buildings and preserve the arts and heritage programs that are held inside.
The Kirkland Arts Center will receive $75,000 from the Building for Culture grant.
“Our commitment to sound financial policies has resulted in a surplus by paying off the Kingdome debt early,” said Council Vice Chair Jane Hague. “County-wide, and on the Eastside, this partnership with 4Culture is supporting significant investment in local arts, cultural and historic preservation projects such as the Bellevue Youth Theater, KidsQuest Museum, Kirkland Arts Center and Performance Arts Center Eastside, among others.”
The funding for maintenance, repairs and preservation were allocated from the Building For Culture Program and unanimously approved by the King County Council. Building for Culture is a partnership between King County and 4Culture, King County’s cultural services agency, using bonds backed by the hotel-motel tax to build, maintain, expand, preserve and improve new and existing cultural facilities.
After the Council approved the creation of the Building for Culture Program, 4Culture put out a request for proposals to nonprofit arts, heritage and cultural organizations and eligible public agencies, as well as owners of national-, state-, or local-designated or eligible landmark properties. 4Culture then convened independent peer panels composed of arts, heritage, and preservation professionals, and other community representatives to review applications and make the final selections.
The bonds supporting these projects are made possible by early retirement of the Kingdome debt. State law requires that hotel-motel tax revenues King County collects this year after repayment of the Kingdome debt be directed to arts and cultural programs.
