#1026 Ideal Heritage

Never has a controversy in the Olympia area raged so long as with the proposed high-density high-rise development on the isthmus. It’s actually a peninsula, but we won’t go into that here.
For those against the development, it’s about protecting the great view for generations to come. It’s painted as virtually a crime against nature. Which is ironic, as the view in question includes an artificial lake filling with pollution and a ragtag collection of boathouses that to the uninformed viewer looks more like a tin shantytown.
Oh yeah, and on good days you can see the Olympic Mountains.
The sad thing? Downtown density is not just a move by a developer to make tons of bucks, it’s an example of what the Olympia area needs to do to protect other rural and pristine areas from development. Not only that, it’s an example of what we all need to do to save the planet.
Urban density is an efficient use of all environmental resources. And it minimizes those notorious carbon footprints we’ve heard so much about. So when many of the Don’t Wall off the Waterfront people talk protection of certain natural resources, they are preventing a much greater protection from happening.
If one were truly intent on preserving the heritage of our area for future generations, a step in the direction of reducing global warming may be an answer.
The other argument of the Don’t Wall off the Waterfolks was that the soon-to-be built Washington Heritage Center would lose its view. Sadly, the center recently lost its funding for construction.
So I say, when you break eggs, make lemonade.
Remodel that existing 9-story building on the isthmus into a new Washington Heritage Center and state office building. Build an observation dome on top. It will have a killer view of the Olympics and the Washington Capital Campus in all its glory. Then you can build the other proposed planet-saving buildings around it.
The beauty is that generations of the general public can ascend to the top of the new Heritage Center for free and get a panoramic view like never before.
And the planet will stay cooler.
So there will actually be a heritage.
America, ya gotta love it.