TACOMA, WASH. — I was standing on world-renowned glassblower Dale Chihuly's Bridge of Glass when it hit me: I had become a tourist in my own hometown.
The span, which shimmers with Chihuly's amazing installations, connects the new Museum of Glass with Union Station, the once abandoned, now gloriously refurbished beaux-arts-style rail terminus built for Northern Pacific in 1910. It's now home to a federal court, the Washington State History Museum and the new Tacoma Art Museum. The complex, along with the bourgeoning University of Washington Tacoma campus, forms the heart of a downtown brought back from the grave.
When I moved away in the mid-1960s, Tacoma was a gritty town surrounded by military bases, scrabbling along on its odiferous pulp mills and poison-spewing smelter -- a song, The Aroma of Tacoma, was a local hit when I was a kid in the 1950s -- while Seattle, 50 kilometres to the north, grew fat on a rich diet of Boeing-built jetliners.
Sure, Tacoma had a spectacular physical setting: San Francisco-style hills rising above Commencement Bay on Puget Sound, one of North America's largest saltwater estuaries, all tucked between the jagged Olympic mountains to the northwest and the Cascade range to the east. On a clear day, Mount Rainier, a 4,392-metre volcano about 100 kilometres to the southeast, looks like it's on the outskirts of town.
But the city core became moribund and soulless in the 1960s when long-established businesses, including timber giant Weyerhauser, migrated to the suburbs.
The renaissance began about 15 years ago when the University of Washington, starved for space in Seattle, moved into Tacoma's run-down but historically significant warehouse district adjacent to Union Station. The university refurbished several buildings, creating a vibrant inner-city campus. A second phase of construction is now under way. The influx of students led to the restoration of more office structures and warehouses as restaurants and loft condominiums. New hotels, a convention centre and the attendant nightclubs and restaurants soon followed.
Things kicked into overdrive in recent years when moneyed Californians, who had already driven real-estate values in Seattle through the roof, discovered Tacoma's affordable prices and a short commute. Now, the city has some significant attractions to offer visitors who have traditionally had their eyes set squarely on Seattle.
At the top of the list is the aforementioned Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art. When city officials approached Chihuly -- a Tacoma native whose massive pieces have drawn crowds to the world's great art galleries -- about a museum dedicated to his work, he demurred, insisting it should house modern art works -- and not just in glass -- from around the globe.
His contribution would be the Bridge of Glass, a pedestrian span that glows with marine colours as sunlight streams through the spectacular works displayed in its walls. He has described it as "the gateway that welcomes people to Tacoma." One of his enormous chandeliers also graces the grand sweep of Union Station's nine-storey dome.
In the museum's Hot Shop Amphitheatre, visitors can watch Chihuly's apprentices create new works, while enthusiastic staffers explain the intricacies of this delicate art form.
The museum, with its signature glass cone that recalls the wood-drying kilns that once dotted the countryside here, sits on the Thea Foss Waterway, a working canal named for the woman who parlayed a single rowboat in 1888 into the Foss Launch and Tug Co., now Foss Marine, the largest tugboat company on the U.S. West Coast. The refurbished waterway sports a boardwalk for sightseers and a bloom of new condominiums.
A short ride away on the new light-rail transit line that runs from the Tacoma Dome arena through downtown is the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, a complex that includes the magnificently refurbished Pantages Theater, where my mother used to watch vaudeville acts, and Theatre on the Square, an outdoor venue set atop an underground parking garage.
Those who prefer their vacations outdoors won't be disappointed in Tacoma. Point Defiance Park, a 283-hectare jewel that dates back to 1880, is carved from the fir trees that tower above Puget Sound. Its attractions include a zoo and aquarium where, as a kid, I was offered the chance to shake hands with an octopus (I declined). The park's hiking trails provide magnificent views of the Olympic mountains and Puget Sound, while those feeling less athletic can wander through the Japanese Gardens, with their reflecting pools and a pagoda built in 1914.
Down the hill, Owen Beach is clean enough for swimmers, but the icy waters of the sound are not for the faint-hearted, even in the summer. Anglers can rent a boat and troll for king salmon or simply cast their line from the free public dock. The ferry to verdant Vashon Island, a 15-minute trip, departs nearby.
When it's time to leave the park, visitors can take the winding Five Mile Drive and get a great view of the Narrows Bridge, the graceful suspension span whose predecessor, known to locals as "Galloping Gertie," tumbled into Puget Sound in 1940 -- my grandfather crossed it only hours before it fell -- while a newsreel cameraman recorded the disaster for posterity.
The drive is also a trip through time: Kids will love the outdoor Camp Six Logging Museum, a replica logging camp where they can climb on ancient tree-cutting machinery and play on the trains that hauled the timber to the sawmills. And don't miss the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, where the Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post, the first European settlement on Puget Sound, in 1833.
Baseball fans will want to catch a game at Cheney Stadium, one of the prettiest ballparks around, and watch the Tacoma Rainiers of the AAA Pacific Coast League groom players for the Seattle Mariners. The iop ticket price: about $15. After the game, cruise down to Frisko Freeze on Division Street, a family-owned drive-in that has been serving delicious double cheeseburgers for generations. Nearby, the Gothic spires of Stadium High School rise above the beautiful homes of the Stadium Historic District.
No visit to Tacoma would be complete without a day at Mount Rainier. It's an easy drive and worth every kilometre, especially in late summer and early fall when the foothills glow in the low-angled light.
But there's another great way to get a good look at the picturesque peak: Drive out Highway 7 to Elbe, 70 kilometres southeast of Tacoma, and board one of the great old steam trains for a 90-minute round trip through the foothills to Mineral Lake. Bring a picnic lunch, enjoy the afternoon in the shadow of the mighty peak and make the return trip at your convenience.
New museums and entertainment spaces in a rejuvenated downtown, all surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in North America: The old hometown never looked better.
Pack your bags
GETTING THERE
Sea-Tac International Airport -- located halfway between Seattle and Tacoma, is served by most major airlines. Tacoma is also served by Amtrak trains and Greyhound bus lines.
WHERE TO STAY
For a handy guide to lodging, including available rooms, visit tacomahotels.worldweb.com/index.html.
Campers who want information about area parks, should visit parks.wa.gov and www.hikercentral.com/regions/us/washington.html.
ATTRACTIONS
Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art: 1801 East Dock St.; 253-284-4750; museumofglass.org/s99_home.jsp. Admission: Adults about $12, seniors $10, children 6-12, $5.
Broadway Center for the Performing Arts: 901 Broadway; 253-591-5894 or 1-800-291-7593; broadwaycenter.org/index.html.
Tacoma Rainiers Baseball: 2502 S. Tyler St.; 253-752-7707; tacomarainiers.com/default.htm.
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium: 5400 N. Pearl St.; 253-591-5337; http://www.pdza.org. Open sunrise to sunset daily. Admission: the park is free; zoo and aquarium: adults about $11, seniors $10, youth (aged 4 to 13) $9.
Camp Six Logging Museum: In Point Defiance Park; camp-6-museum.org; Open year-round, free admission.
Mount Rainier National Park: http://www.nps.gov/mora.
Mount Rainier Scenic Railway: The railway is in Elbe, about 70 kilometres southeast of Tacoma; http://www.mrsr.com. The train station is located on Highway 7, on the main route to Mount Rainier National Park. The trains operate on weekends until July 4, when they run daily until Labour Day. Reservations not required.
MORE INFORMATION
Visit http://www.cityoftacoma.org and http://www.experiencewashington.com.
