There’s a fine idea flying around Snohomish County for increasing tourism and serving local residents’ needs for cultural opportunities. It even has a home at Paine Field.
There is, moreover, plenty of support — of the spoken variety — for the idea of an aircraft museum and a conference center. In this area, who could doubt the value of preserving the rich history of the county’s connection with aircraft construction?
Unfortunately the $16 million plan continues to suffer from a not-necessarily-fatal setback before the Snohomish County Council two months ago. The council voted 3-2 against the plan, which was rejected by the Republican majority on a straight party line vote.
That vote blocked having the proposal considered for $2.6 million in financing from the Snohomish County Public Facilities District. The council majority decided that it wouldn’t be fair — somehow — for a proposal backed by a county department, such as the county-operated airport, to compete for funds. With council chair Gary Nelson hailing from Edmonds, which has its own PFD proposal in the works, there have been suggestions that south county politics played a factor. Nelson has denied the claims.
In any case, there’s no reason to think that Republican council members wouldn’t be as interested in the plan as anyone else. Support behind the scenes is reportedly strong, with backers of the museum hearing welcome words of encouragement and even talk of other funding ideas.
The project is certainly worth encouragement. The plans envision an exhibition center run by the Museum of Flight, an expanded Boeing tour center and convention space. Promoters say the project would turn today’s 120,000 annual Boeing tours into 200,000 a year, a claim that seems entirely plausible.
Despite the vote by the council, a Paine Field project could properly be considered — on its merits — by the Public Facilities District. At least two other counties are said to have county-supported plans receiving a share of their local PFD funds.
There’s no reason that the PFD model is the only one that could work. Certainly, though, any alternate plan ought to be one that is designed, like the PFD mechanism, to avoid any impact on county services to the public.
It’s time to turn talk into concrete answers that either move in a new direction or reverse the earlier vote.
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