By Bill Sheets and Janice Podsada

For The Herald

EDMONDS — A study to determine whether the city can support a conference or performing arts center paints a bleak picture.

The study, prepared for the Edmonds Public Facilities District by Property Counselors, a Seattle real estate firm, was presented to the Edmonds City Council this week.

Despite its less-than-glowing findings, the five-member facilities district board said it will continue its work.

The board plans to hire consultants to prepare designs for a combined 900-seat theater and 7,000-square-foot meeting hall, board member James Monroe said.

"It’s not costing the citizens of Edmonds anything for us to continue our due diligence," said board member Jan Conner, operations director of the Edmonds Harbor Inn.

The district is supported by a state sales tax rebate, money that would normally remain in the state’s coffers.

For a conference center to be successful, it must have hotel rooms within walking distance, Greg Eastin of Property Counselors told the council.

The city’s current lodgings don’t measure up in number or quality. And the prospects of enticing a private hotel developer don’t look good, Eastin said.

The events of Sept. 11 have made a big dent in tourism everywhere, Conner said.

The study estimated the cost of either a theater or combined facility at about $28 million, compared with $14 million for a conference center.

If the facility were financed entirely by a voter-approved tax, the annual cost for the owner of a $250,000 home is estimated at $77 for a conference center; $152 for a 900-seat theater and $159 for a multipurpose facility. Costs would be reduced by private investment funds or grants.

Downtown Edmonds is the best location for an arts or conference center, the study concludes. But a downtown location could require a height variance. The current building height limit is 30 feet. That would have to be raised to 50 or 60 feet.

Dan Clements, Snohomish County Finance Director and adviser to the Snohomish County Public Facilities District, said the Edmonds district would compete for funds with the proposed National Flight Interpretive Center project at Paine Field in south Everett.

Under state law, a facilities district has to break ground on a facility by January 2003 to receive 33 percent funds from the county district, which decides the distribution of funds.

The deadline for filing a project plan is Dec. 1, Clements said.

"When we formed the PFD initially, people pretty much had to have their projects down by the end of this year," he said.

"It will be a real challenge for them (Edmonds) to get that put together in that short (amount) of time. Though I think the council and the county PFD could look at extending the deadline," Clements said.

"It took Lynnwood and Everett a year and a half to get it together" for their projects, he said.