The City of Tacoma, Washington was once a premier coastal port

of the Pacific Northwest. Now its main waterway, the Thea Foss, lays

vacant and underutilized because of perceived contamination from past

maritime activities. However, through the efforts of the city and EPA,

and with significant private sector financial support, Tacoma is turning

the land adjacent to the Thea Foss into a residential, commercial, and

cultural public esplanade.

The City of Tacoma was founded in 1884 and thrived both as the lumber

capital of the world and a maritime port. There were many uses for the

land along the waterway: truck storage, coal bunker operations, and a

heating oil distribution center. However, after the city’s timber and port

activities relocated due to a shift in the market, Tacoma suffered

economic decline and unemployment rates began to rise. The Thea Foss

Waterway fell quickly into disuse—while perceived contamination and

liability risks rose.

The city purchased the 27-acres on the waterway in 1991, and by 1995

had started the clean up process of the uplands; it could now focus on

coordinating redevelopment efforts of the land adjacent to the Foss, as it

is known to residents. A Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot

award to the City of Tacoma from EPA in 1996 increased the likelihood

that the Thea Foss Waterway would eventually be revitalized. The city

and the Pilot worked together to form the Thea Foss Waterway Public

Development Authority (PDA), whose mission was to oversee and guide

all Pilot activities. The PDA took control of the land from the city in

1996. Pilot activity focused mainly on starting the revitalization

momentum and helping the city market the land along the Foss. In total,

the Pilot assisted in leveraging the $63 million needed for initial

redevelopment activities on the Foss, the majority of which came from

local and private sources.

The privately constructed Museum of Glass International Center for

Contemporary Art, which opened in July 2002, was conceived in the mid1990s as the first step of an impressive waterfront renewal plan devised

by the PDA. Inspired by the Tacoma native and renowned glass artist,

Dale Chihuly, and carried out by the museum’s director and the

architecture firm designing the museum, the idea culminated in the $63

million structure, whose four-story cone is a landmark for travelers and

residents as they enter the city. The 1.6-acre museum site consists of an

exhibition studio, café, five outdoor installations, a gift shop, and a “hot

JUST THE FACTS:

• In total, the Pilot assisted in leveraging

the $63 million needed for initial

redevelopment activities on the Foss.

• Within the first six months of

operation, more than 185,000 visitors

came to the museum, contributing $17

million to the local economy.

• The museum and bridge have been

called “an explosion of color” by the

New York Times and “spectacular” by

the Los Angeles Times.

Tacoma, Washington

continued 

Port City Turns Into a

Glass Blowing Haven

The Chihuly Bridge of Glass.

The new museum and the

bridge have showed the world

“where we are and how far we

have come.”

—Bill Baarsma, Mayor

City of Tacoma
The Museum of Glass ceiling.

CONTACTS:

For more information contact

U.S. EPA REGION 10

(206) 553-1200

Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA-560-F-06-231

Tacoma, Washington and Emergency August 2006

Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/

shop” where the public can view the processes of glass blowing and cutting. The Pacific Northwest is

the heart of glass country in the United States, and the museum is a perfect fit for the city.

The museum was not enough for Chihuly; he wanted to create something for Tacoma that no other city

in the world had to offer, something that was full of color night or day. The result is the

Chihuly Bridge of Glass, which opened concurrently with the museum. Spanning 500

feet over Interstate-705 and a rail line, the bridge enables pedestrians to access

newly redeveloped areas along the Thea Foss Waterway by connecting the

waterfront with downtown Tacoma, which is also undergoing significant

renovation. The bridge is the largest permanent outdoor glass installation in the

world, featuring the Crystal Towers, two 40-foot tall towers of blue icecrystals; the Seaform Pavilion, consisting of over 1,500 seaforms (glass

sculptures that take the appearance of abstract sea creatures); and the

Venetian Wall, a glass enclosed case with 109 works of glass in the Venetian

style. The Tacoma Brownfields Pilot assisted in leveraging the $12 million

needed for the construction of the bridge, from both private sector and state

sources.

Initially, museum marketers questioned whether anyone would come to Tacoma,

a city with a reputation as Seattle’s poor, blue-collar cousin. However, both the

museum and the bridge have become instant successes. Within the first six months of

operation, more than 185,000 visitors came to the museum, contributing $17 million to the

local economy. Tourism agencies in nearby cities cannot keep up with the demand of people that

want to travel to Tacoma. The museum and bridge have been called “an explosion of color” by the New

York Times and “spectacular” by the Los Angeles Times.

In addition to the museum and bridge, the Pilot assisted in

leveraging funds for the $35 million Thea’s Landing

redevelopment project, a mixed commercial and residential

building that opened in the Fall of 2002. Thea’s Landing

now has 188 residential apartments, 47 condominium

homes and 431 parking stalls. In addition, the Albers Mill

development, the Albers Transient Moorage, and the

Foss Waterway Marina have all been completed and two

other museums have opened at the opposite end of the

Bridge of Glass: The Washington State History Museum

and the Tacoma Art Museum.

However, development along the Foss and in downtown

Tacoma is far from complete. Three other major mixed-use

projects incorporating condominiums, hotel, and office space are being developed along the waterfront

around Thea’s Landing. The redevelopment has also created new residential areas in downtown Tacoma

with many former warehouses being converted into condominiums. This redevelopment has prompted

additional building renovations and a light-rail transit system for Tacoma.

Bill Baarsma, mayor of the city said that the new museum and the bridge have showed the world “where

we are and how far we have come.” Currently, Tacoma’s biggest problem is not how to revitalize its

blighted and disregarded areas, but rather how to handle all its visitors.