Leaders from a number of local nonprofits in Burien gathered in the Council Chambers at Burien City City Hall on Saturday, November 16, to again discuss the possibility of establishing a facility in Burien that would act as a cultural center for the community and surrounding metropolitan area.

Saturday’s meeting was the second public gathering dedicated to the cultural facility, the first taking place in late June of this year. Dan Mathews, a commercial real estate broker from Kidder Mathews and is also a member of the City Council’s economic and business advisory board, the BEDP, facilitated the gathering.

Leaders from a number of arts and cultural nonprofits in Burien gathered in the Council Chambers at Burien City Hall on Saturday, June 29, to discuss the possibility of establishing a facility in downtown Burien that would act as a cultural center for the community and surrounding metropolitan area.

Represented at the meeting was the Highline Historical Society, Burien Actors Theatre, the B-Town Beat, Burien Arts Association, a number of local business owners, Burien Arts Commissioners, the President of the Southwest King County Chamber of Commerce, the President of Discover Burien, members of Burien’s Business and Economic Development Partnership and Deputy Mayor Lucy Krakowiak and Planning Commissioner and Council Member-Elect Nancy Tosta.

The primary speaker at the meeting was Paul Hinderlie. Paul is a Highline area native who attended Mount Rainer High School and has spent the last 14 years in the multimedia and events planning industry, most recently working on large scale events such as music festivals and corporate gatherings with attendees in the thousands. The topic in Hinderlie’s talk was the corporate event side of the vision, which would also act as the primary funding source for the arts facility. According to Hinderlie, the Seattle metro has countless small unique venues but what is really lacking in the area is a facility that allows for an occupancy of over 1,000 people, is built to be convertible, technologically advanced and is functional for a wide range of event needs. He claims that Burien is the perfect location for such a facility because of location in relation to SeaTac International Airport and the interstate junction of I-5 and I-405 which gives people access to Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma and the surrounding metro area. This paired with Burien’s downtown local businesses and the possibility for a hotel to support the area and facility, all contribute to his belief in the project.

In the previous meeting held by the group in late June, leaders from local arts and cultural nonprofits expressed the need for a smaller theater, fitting between the 90 seats at the Annex, where Burien Actors Theatre and the Hi-Liners perform now, and the Highline Performing Arts Center on the Highline High School campus which has a capacity of over 800. They also expressed the need for practice space, work space, gallery space and offices, a lobby, exhibit space as well as plenty of parking. According to Hinderlie and Mathews, the group’s previous wish list is still obtainable by using prime real estate for a mixed use facility that would act as the primary performance venue in the form of a convertible large space or an over 1,000 and sub 400 seat theatre, while using a facility nearby to house supporting needs that generally demand more space.

According to Dan Mathews, the concept is to help local arts and cultural groups by providing a state-of-the-art facility that would be supported by a facility group hosting music, conventions, and both private and corporate events. Mathews, as well as others attending the meeting, believe that Burien has a future as a cultural hub where people from around the metro, and those traveling through SeaTac International Airport, will go to experience local and rotating art and cultural exhibits, as well as Burien’s eateries and unique businesses. Part of this vision includes a boutique hotel, and possible larger hotels down the road, which would allow Burien to serve the tourism sector by becoming a unique regional destination providing an experience for travelers and the community to partake in. It would bring renewed visibility and economic support to Burien arts and cultural groups as well as new clientele to local businesses while substantially increasing the tax base for the City of Burien. While attendees to the meeting questioned the possibility of such a facility being established in downtown Burien, potentially in one of the undeveloped parcels remaining in the Burien Town Square project, Mathews was clear that the group is in the earliest stages of planning and that a project like this could be around five years out. While this doesn’t necessarily take the idea out of the running for one of the two large parcels, Legacy Partners, who purchased the land from Harbor Urban mid 2013, is expected to break ground on their first project (parcel 5) in early 2014 and work on the second parcel (parcel 4) not long there after. Mathews assured the group that there are a number of viable plots of land in downtown Burien that would be ideal locations for such a facility.

To close the meeting, Mathews stated that for the project to succeed, the community in Burien would need to show their support with ideas and suggestions. He asked that those interested in supporting the project, those who have questions, and those with suggestions, contact him by emailing "dmathews@kiddermathews.com"

The group is expected to host multiple meetings in 2014 to gather more information about the community’s needs and give updates on the progress of the project. No meeting dates have been officially announced.