A small group of Kirkland residents envisioned an arts center for the community in 1962 and rallied to purchase an old building with their own money.
That building – now the Kirkland Arts Center – represents a realization of 11 Kirkland citizens to share the gift of art with the community.
Now, the arts community needs our help.
Built by Kirkland’s founder, Peter Kirk, the Kirkland Arts Center was named one of 25 historic places selected to participate in the Seattle-Puget Sound area Partners in Preservation initiative by The National Trust for Historic Preservation.
A $1 million grant is on the table and could go to our community – if we play our cards right.
It just takes one vote, daily. Go to www.PartnersinPreservation.com, click on “Kirkland Arts Center” and cast your vote. You can vote online once per day through May 12.
At the end of the voting period, the site with the most votes is guaranteed funding from a total of $1 million that American Express will give away to support the preservation of historic places in the Seattle-Puget Sound area.
And please don’t hesitate to get your friends, out-of-state family, co-workers and Facebook pals to vote too. Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride says she’s voting once per day, from each of her three e-mails.
The winner of the public vote is guaranteed to receive a grant. But that doesn’t mean Kirkland won’t get anything if we don’t win. The remainder of the $1 million in available funding will be distributed among some of the projects, to be determined by an advisory committee.
As of the Reporter’s deadline, the Kirkland Arts Center had 3 percent of the vote.
What could the organization do with the grant money? Plenty.
A Partners in Preservation grant would fund the rehabilitation of the Kirkland Arts Center’s second story and grand staircase entryway, as well as the restoration of historic details to the building’s signature Turret Room. The proposed renovations would allow increased efficiency in space and energy use, improve and expand programming, and more strongly connect the Eastside community to its rich history. Protecting this stately structure not only preserves a piece of town history, but also ensures that the Kirkland Arts Center will be able to engage the community for years to come.
Loita Hawkinson, a Kirkland Heritage Society volunteer, recently said, “If only these (Kirkland Arts Center’s) walls could talk. We would hear the optimism as our founders planned the development of Kirkland.”
We would also hear the determination those few Kirklanders had to bring art to the community. Let’s preserve their vision by giving the Kirkland Arts Center a boost.
