SEATTLE – Lack of money and maintenance needs at other centers have halted plans to build an American Indian lodge at the city’s Discovery Park.
The focus is on “revitalizing our current programs, facilities and land to their full potential before pursuing the People’s Lodge buildings,” said Phil Lane Jr., chief executive of United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. A priority is repairing the 29-year-old Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center at Discovery Park.
The People’s Lodge is a $48 million, 96,000-square-foot complex that Indian activist Bernie Whitebear hoped would commemorate and celebrate indigenous cultures.
But it met opposition throughout planning, and was only approved in 2003 after years of negotiation between the foundation and the Magnolia Community Club.
Leaders sought to break ground this year, but in December the foundation board unanimously approved a 10-year plan that did not include the People’s Lodge.
Until the foundation’s financial situation changes, the lodge will not go forward, Lane said.
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