Renaissance On The Sound Renovations Make Tacoma Place To Visit

Forget past images of Tacoma, as a rundown neighbor of Seattle not worth leaving the freeway to visit. It’s no longer true.

Self-proclaimed in the 19th century as the “City of Destiny,” Tacoma has a lot going for it on the eve of the 21st century, starting with a new look.

Gleaming modern architectural jewels mingle with and complement painstaking renovations of old buildings in the core area. Historic homes and businesses have been preserved, often with new uses, in neighborhoods with individual flavors that grew originally to serve pioneer lumber mills, dockworkers and railroaders.

The nostalgia of yesteryear lives on streets where today is changing and tomorrow will be. Instead of “sleepless in Seattle,” it’s sleep in Tacoma, emerging as a place both to visit and to use as an alternative to Seattle to explore the area between glacier-clad Rainier, the mountain the Indians called “Tacobet,” and the waters of Puget Sound.

Just minutes across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is the picture-card boating village of Gig Harbor, where on a clear day 14,411-foot Mount Rainier is reflected in its waters. Almost as close is Steilacoom, the oldest incorporated town in Washington and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Puyallup, home of one of the nation’s top 10 state fairs, is nearby and surrounded by acres of commercially produced daffodils, tulips, irises and other bulbs.

Northwest Trek, a wildlife park where visitors tour in trams past free-roaming non-dangerous native animals and also can safely see varieties in enclosures they would not want to meet up close and personal, is an easy day trip away. Nearing the entrance to Mount Rainier National Park is Eatonville, site of a spectacular annual arts festival and gatherings from time to time of believers in flying saucers and communication with extra-terrestrials. Also close is Elbe, base for Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad, a steam-powered excursion train operating Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend.

Outstanding military museums are open to the public at Fort Lewis and at McChord Air Force Base. Steilacoom has a thought-provoking Tribal Cultural Center and Museum targeting Native American legacy. And in Tacoma itself are the Washington State Historical Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Children’s Museum and other unique repositories.

Out Ruston Way with its waterfront promenade and restaurants is the entrance to Point Defiance Park with world class zoo and aquarium; a reproduction of the Hudson Bay company’s mid-1800s Fort Nisqually; a children’s Never Never Land; and Camp 6, an outdoor museum of steam logging days.

Tacoma’s current revitalization has been under way since the late 1980s when renovation began on its 1911 copper-dome Union Station, a vacated remnant of the golden age of railroading. It reopened in 1992 as a U.S. Courthouse and with a magnificent domed lobby in the former rotunda that showcases sculptured glass creations by Tacoma native and internationally acclaimed artist Dale Chihuly.

Under construction next door and reflecting the vaulted arches of Union Station is the new home of the Washington State Historical Museum, due to open in 1996. Across the street, exterior fronts of dilapidated old warehouses are being renovated as part of an $85 million branch campus for the University of Washington, first phase of which is open in 1997.

Amid a mix of classic old buildings and new skyscrapers, the 1918 Pantages Theater, a Greco-Roman architectural treasure that hosted such as W.C Fields, Charlie Chaplin and Mae West, and neighboring Rialto Theater with its beaux arts decor, have been splendidly restored. Theater on the Square, home of the Tacoma Actors Guild, opened in 1993 to complete a performing arts triad that lures national and international touring artists. Across town is the Tacoma Dome arena and convention center - the world’s largest wooden dome structure.

Tacoma’s old Italian Rennaissance-style city hall with its decorative clock tower now houses restaurants and offices. A first rate Sheraton Hotel and a highrise Financial Center anchors the opposite end of Broadway Plaza from Pantages Center. Once empty storefronts blossom with art galleries, boutiques, night spots and restaurants.

In the stadium historical district, location of chateauesque Stadium High School, a castle of learning built originally to be a great hotel, there are more than 100 National Historic Register mansions and the admission-free Seymour Botanical Conservatory.

Tacoma’s collection of neighborhoods with unique identities are coming alive with their own places to shop or dine or stay for a night or two.

“We have fun telling guests there are more historic homes here in Tacoma than in Port Townsend and a lot more to do,” says Bill Kautmann, regional representative of the Washington Bed & Breakfast Guild. According to Kaufmann, who owns Commencement Bay B&B in Tacoma, when historic redevelopments revitalize a community, antique shops flourish and also B&Bs. Five years ago there were only two B&Bs in Tacoma; now there are 12.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: IF YOU GO For general information about lodging, restaurants, and things to do: Call the Tacoma Visitor Information Center at (206) 272-7801. There is also a no-fee Greater Tacoma Bed & Breakfast Reservation Service, (206) 759-4088, to help people find a B&B with a single call.