DSA Celebrates 50 Years of Vision, Growth and Community

The Westin Hotel’s Grand Ballroom was at full capacity for the DSA’s “Downtown is Golden” 50th anniversary luncheon extravaganza on June 19th. Emcee and KING 5 News anchor Jean Enersen guided attendees through a jam-packed program that featured insight from many of Seattle’s brightest visionaries.

This year’s Annual Event included comments from DSA President Kate Joncas, outgoing Board Chair John Hanley and 2008-09 Board Chair Patrick Gordon, each providing perspective on the City’s past and discussing the promising outlook for Seattle’s future.

Other highlights of the event included a 10-minute multimedia retrospective recalling Downtown Seattle’s past 50 years, and a special recognition of five Downtown Legacy Champion milestone initiatives, presented by Bank of America.
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Adding to her duties as emcee, Enersen also acted
as moderator for a panel discussion featuring Norm Rice, Chairman of the Board for the 5th Avenue Theater; Gene Duvernoy, President of the Cascade Land Conservancy; Matt Griffin, Managing Partner of Pine Street Group L.L.C and Blake Nordstrom, President of Nordstrom. The panel provided insight on a broad range of topics facing Downtown Seattle over the coming years.

DSA also asked to hear from some of its younger constituents regarding their excitement for Downtown's future. Andrea Barry (Northwest Regional Manager, Project Visualization, PB), Natalie Quick (Senior Vice President, Director of Public Affairs, The Fearey Group Inc.), Daniel Popielinski (General Manager, The Daily Grill), Brock Huard (Project Director, Nitze Stagen & Co., Inc.) and Fen Hsiao (Director of Fund Development, Seattle Chinatown-International District Preservation & Development Authority) each offered brief remarks on the allure of living and working in Dowtown Seattle.

Photo highlights from the event , video content and much more are posted to the DSA’s 50th Anniversary web page.

Special thanks to our sponsors: