Downtown Seattle Association Celebrates

50 Years of Vision, Growth and Community

Event to Honor Five Decades of
Downtown Legacy Champion Milestones

SEATTLE – The legacy of Downtown Seattle’s past five decades – including triumphs and challenges along the way – provides the City today with a heritage of vision, growth and community which is setting the course for the next 50 years and beyond.

A major champion in creating a healthy, vibrant urban core – the envy of many cities across the country – is the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA), which celebrates its 50 th anniversary on Thurs., June 19 with a multimedia Downtown is Golden luncheon extravaganza, boasting a who’s who guest list of past and present leaders who’ve helped shape Downtown Seattle into the regional treasure it is today.

“The Downtown Seattle of today provides energy, driving the vitality of both the City and the region through world-class shopping and dining, vibrant arts and entertainment, exciting nightlife and professional sporting events. It’s also home to the region’s best full-service hotels and conference centers, professional services, modern office towers and an impressive offering of residential apartments and condominiums that set the standard for sustainable practices in real estate development,” enthuses DSA Board Chair John Hanley, Jr. of Heller Ehrman LLP. “We have all of this in one exciting, culturally rich setting with historic significance and natural beauty, a combination that is unmatched in the Pacific Northwest.”

Despite Downtown Seattle’s current success, the past 50 years have also been witness to some challenging times including the “Boeing Bust” in the 1970s; the dark days of Downtown retail following the closure of Frederick & Nelson and I. Magnin, and the impact of the WTO protests on our Downtown streets in the 1990s; as well as today’s ongoing efforts to identify solutions for traffic congestion and affordable Downtown housing.

“Through it all, Downtown Seattle is looking better than ever,” says DSA President Kate Joncas. “At a time of conflicting economic indicators, our building boom, office lease rates, pedestrian counts and our residential population continue to grow. We have a lot for which to be proud.”

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels concurs, “It’s a great time for Downtown Seattle, and I’d like to thank the Downtown Seattle Association for its leadership over the years in making this a great city. While we have our challenges like every other major city, the Downtown Seattle Association has been a great partner on a number of issues from homelessness to economic competitiveness to public safety. Its efforts have helped make Seattle a healthier, more vibrant city, and giving us all reason to celebrate.”

Highlighting these and other milestones at the DSA’s annual event will be an entertaining 10-minute multimedia retrospective recalling Downtown Seattle’s past 50 years. The video will be followed by one of the event’s highlights – a special recognition of five Downtown Legacy Champion milestone initiatives, presented by Bank of America.

“The five legacy initiatives that we’ll be celebrating are the result of countless individuals, companies and organizations,” says Bank of America’s Washington State President Peter Joers, the sponsor of the awards program for the past four years. “Each has served as a catalyst for change, and has left an enduring legacy in making Downtown Seattle, the special place that we treasure.”

Each of the celebrated milestone initiatives have helped shape Downtown Seattle into a collection of great neighborhoods and the region’s urban destination of choice. In recognition of DSA’s 50 th anniversary, this year’s honorees reflect the collective work of many individuals and organizations from the past five decades. This year’s celebration breaks from the DSA tradition of selecting a single organization to receive the annual Downtown Champion Award, of which past recipients include Pike Place Market (2004), Plymouth Housing Group (2005), Washington Mutual & Seattle Art Museum (2006) and FareStart (2007).

Another highlight is expected to be an insightful, future-looking, panel discussion, moderated by KING 5 News Anchor Jean Enersen focusing on Downtown’s next 50 years and beyond. The panel, tackling some of Downtown’s most pressing issues, will feature four of the community’s most-respected leaders – Gene Duvernoy (President/Cascade Land Conservancy), Matt Griffin (Managing Partner/Pine Street Group, LLC), Blake Nordstrom (Nordstrom) and former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice (Chairman of the Board/5 th Avenue Theatre).

Also at the meeting, DSA will announce its incoming officers for 2008/09 including board chair Patrick Gordon (Zimmer Gunsul Frasca LLP), vice chair Jane Nelson (Lane Powell PC), secretary Dale Sperling (Unico Properties, LLC) and treasurer Larry Bird (Deloitte).

Open to the public, the event is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thurs., June 19 at The Westin Hotel Grand Ballroom ( 1900 Fifth Avenue) in Downtown Seattle. A limited number of individual tickets ($125 for DSA members; $150 for non-members) and corporate tables remain available by at www.downtownseattle.com or by calling 206/623-0340.

Heller Ehrman LLP and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP are serving as the event’s presenting sponsors. Other sponsors include Bank of America, Metzler, Pine Street Group LLC, Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Unico, Wright Runstad & Company, Clise Properties, Pike Place Market and Urban Visions. Media sponsors include KING 5 Television, The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

About Downtown Seattle Association

Established in 1958, the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) – representing business, non-profits, arts and educational institutions throughout Puget Sound – is a non-profit, member-based organization dedicated to the revitalization and development of Downtown Seattle into a thriving, world-class place to live, work, visit and conduct business.

DSA is led by many of the community’s most respected leaders working in collaboration to champion a healthy, vibrant urban core.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Because space is limited, reporters interested in covering the event for a story, or who would like to pre-arrange an interview should contact DSA Communications Director Randy Hurlow at 206/613-3203 or randyh@downtownseattle.org) by June 18. B-roll and historic Downtown print images are also available upon request.