Seattle City Council Public Assets & Homelessness Committee 7/20/22

We are now recording, go ahead.

Thank you, IT.

We are now recording.

The July 20th, 2022 meeting of the Seattle City Council's Public Assets and Homelessness Committee will come to order.

I'm Andrew Lewis, chair of the committee.

It is 2.01 p.m.

Council Member Herbold communicated with me that she will not be attending today's meeting and she is excused.

Will the clerk please call the roll of the council members present?

Council President Juarez.

Here.

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Vice Chair Mosqueda.

Present.

Chair Lewis.

Present.

Chair, there are four members present, one excused.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk.

Moving on to approval of the agenda.

If there is no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

Chair's report.

Today we will have a fairly short, but impactful meeting with one agenda item.

The Seattle Aquarium is here to give the committee a presentation and really looking forward to that presentation, which has previously been posted with a slide deck attached to the agenda.

We will begin as we typically do with public comment.

And Mr. Clerk, how many people are signed up to publicly comment?

We have two signed in to comment over the phone.

And let me check and see if there are any in-person public commenters.

Mr. Chair, there is no one signed up for in-person public comment.

So we have Carl Nakajima, who is signed up, but is not listed as present.

Carl, please call in if you would like to participate in public comment.

And we have Jacob Beshear, who is listed as present.

Okay, why don't we just start with Mr. Scheer?

And time will be set at two minutes.

Mr. Scheer, if you could press star six, you will be unmuted and you can begin public comment whenever you're ready.

Hi, thank you.

My name is Jacob Scheer and I'm calling in today on behalf of Real Change to state our firm opposition to the transfer of City Hall Park from Seattle to the county.

City Hall Park is truly one of the last green spaces in the downtown corridor in a neighborhood with a high concentration of low-income housing.

and these neighbors as well as folks living outdoors deserve access to parks and green spaces too.

City Hall Park has been fenced off and inaccessible for months now.

The exact opposite of what a city park is supposed to be.

This park should be activated immediately and made open and accessible to the community.

We've already seen the city sell off valuable public land, including directly across from City Hall where land won't be used for luxury apartments.

We need public housing and public parks on city land, not luxury apartments with a few and gated inaccessible parks.

Transferring or swapping City Hall Park to the county is a bad-face bargain that will cost Seattle valuable land in a high-density, transit-dense area, which are exactly the types of spaces we need to make accessible and affordable to low-income, poor, and unhoused people in our community.

So please keep public land in public hands and keep City Hall Park in city hands.

And Colin Nakajima is here.

He's just getting logged in and would like to publicly comment.

So just one moment.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jacob.

Chair, Carl Nakajima has not yet signed in.

So, there are no other public commenters present.

Okay, why don't we move on to the agenda then?

Sorry, we that not all signed in or signed up commenters were present to comment publicly in the meeting today but do please send us your participate in the public comment session, the committee is happy to review them.

So we will now move on to our first and our only agenda item.

Will the clerk please read the agenda item into the record?

Seattle Aquarium Overview and Updates, agenda item one.

And we are joined by a panel of folks from the Seattle Aquarium who can join us up here at the briefing table.

And just fan out on the side that is closer to the gallery.

And the clerk, I believe, has your PowerPoint presentation and can load it up.

And once you guys get settled in there, please feel free to introduce and feel free to ask the clerk's assistance in starting the PowerPoint presentation for the public and the committee.

Are we all set here?

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My name is Bob Davidson, president and CEO of the Seattle Aquarium Society, and we're joined today by a great panel that includes a special guest and one of the aquarium's consultants, Robin Littlewood-Syko of the Suquamish Nation, Dr. Aaron Meyer, the aquarium's director of conservation, programs and partnerships, Dr. Susan Bullardick, the Aquarium's Director of Capital Projects.

Thank you, Council Member Lewis and the committee members for this opportunity to provide an update on current and future Seattle Aquarium.

We're planning to 30 minute presentation and with room for questions after or if members have a need to raise a question during.

So just in sense of context of the role of the Seattle Aquarium, our lives, we're increasingly aware, depend upon the ocean.

Mr. Davis, just one moment.

I just wanna check in and make sure that the PowerPoint, my screen that I'm looking at of viewing the meeting doesn't have the PowerPoint active on it.

I don't know if I'm sharing a window with, with the clerk or somebody else, but I wanna make sure the public can see, obviously, what the aquarium is referencing.

Yeah, IT, can I just confirm that the public can see the presentation being referenced by the aquarium panel?

I don't think so.

It needs to be shared out.

I just see the clerk's desktop, so yeah.

Yeah, that's what I see too.

Just wanted to make sure before we start getting into it, so great.

IT, the screen is being shared to Zoom.

I will unshare and try again.

Yeah, maybe just share the application rather than the screen.

Excellent, now I can see it.

And IT, can you confirm that you see it too?

I see a, yep, I see a, yep, I see it, thank you.

Great, okay, thank you so much.

Sorry for the interruption.

You can continue there, Bob.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Our lives depend upon the ocean.

Dr. Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Explorer in Residence, and the first female chief scientist at NOAA, describes the ocean as the life support system for our blue planet.

The ocean is the source of the air we breathe, the food we eat, the rain that makes our region green.

More than half the world's oxygen comes from the ocean, and it controls our climate and weather.

and some of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet are found in the ocean.

80% of it has yet to be explored.

Today, the ocean, including Puget Sound, is facing unprecedented threats that endanger all life on Earth, including ours.

The ocean has already absorbed 90% of the excess heat from global warming, shielding us from its worst effects, but its capacity to continue absorbing heat is limited.

Industrial pollution, destructive overfishing, oil spills, noise, habitat loss all threaten our ocean.

From coral bleaching to marine dead zones of low oxygen, the impact of these human activities is clear, accelerating extinction and destruction of vital ecosystems.

Despite these threats, less than 1% of the ocean is currently protected for marine life.

We believe we can go and must go beyond simply limiting harm and began to reverse the damage done to our ocean.

Our vision is regeneration, a new term for many.

We can restore a healthy, flourishing ocean and leave our planet and our communities better than we found them.

Many of the solutions we'll need already exist, and more are rapidly developing.

We've advanced renewable energy technologies to help reduce the use of fossil fuels.

Sustainable fishing techniques can restore healthy fisheries and ensure food security for coastal communities.

Conservation efforts are beginning to show astounding success in reversing the loss of species and restoring biodiversity.

At the Seattle Aquarium, our mission is to inspire conservation of our marine environment.

The aquarium is the largest marine conservation institution in the Northwestern United States.

At this critical moment for our ocean and our planet, our mission compels us to act on a greater scale than ever before.

I'd like to hand it off now to Dr. Erin Meyer to share more about this important mission-driven work that is currently underway to conserve and protect our one world ocean.

Thank you, Bob.

I want to start by saying how fortunate I feel to be living in a city and a region that is clearly committed to environmental stewardship and addressing climate change.

In the Seattle Aquarium, we lead the region in conservation education focused on Washington waters.

Our work sparks curiosity, wonder, and inspires people to care for and act on behalf of the ocean.

and we invite participation through shared values and bold, hopeful action.

The aquarium currently sees over 800,000 visitors annually in a typical year, and we expect that that reach is gonna expand to approximately two million when the ocean pavilion is a part of our campus.

About 2,200 teens have experienced our Youth Ocean Advocate program since we launched it back in 1994. And through that program, they engage in ocean conservation, exhibit interpretation, and ocean advocacy.

And we provide at least 50,000 free community tickets and almost 200 free memberships annually to more than 400 community partner organizations that serve traditionally underserved and underrepresented communities to make sure that our spaces are have access for all.

Now, conservation, education, and outreach are core parts of our mission, and the Ocean Pavilion will enable us to expand our efforts to reach thousands more young people and inspire the next generation to take action for the ocean in their daily lives.

Also in a typical year, about 40,000 students from 200 school districts across the state are enrolled in Seattle Aquarium school programs.

And in addition to our onsite visitors, like 800,000, we also connect with about 75,000 people on rivers and on beaches along our waterfronts.

Now, as a key pillar of our conservation work, we also advance and advocate for local, regional, and national policies that help restore healthy ocean ecosystems and support marine life.

We've helped to shape and pass bills that will prevent pollution and protect habitat for our fewer than 107 resident orcas that are left in our waters.

Since 2018, we've served on the steering committee of a Washington coalition working to reduce and keep plastic pollution out of our waterways and reduce the impacts on overburdened communities.

And we also serve on the kelp plan advisory committee, the quiet sound leadership committee, and the Washington Sea Grant advisory committee, among others, to help shape and advance regulations, research, and outreach activities that promote kelp forest protections and restoration, reduce underwater noise, and many other things that negatively impact things like southern resident maracas and salmon in our state.

And just recently, we launched a new species recovery program, recognizing that aquariums, we have unique experience and expertise that we can bring to bear to save species from extinction.

The first program that we launched together with partners last year, we built a nursery on site at the aquarium for the species you see pictured here.

This is a Pinto abalone.

It's an endangered species here in Washington that after just about 50 years of recreational fishing, we'd lost 98% of this species in our state.

It was listed as endangered by our state in 2019. And we've recently partnered with the Puget Sound Restoration Fund and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, among others, to restore this species to Washington waters.

And just a couple of months ago, released our first about 1,000 abalone to undisclosed locations in our waterways.

Also, as a part of our species recovery program, we helped launch a global initiative that we've called ReShark, through which we are quite literally re-sharking the ocean.

This is now a coalition over 65 partners in 13 countries around the world who recognize that there are about 400 species of sharks that are currently listed as threatened or endangered, many of which are not responding to things like area protections or fisheries protections.

And so we, as an aquarium, are putting our unique experience and expertise to work to help breed and rear these animals.

And we're actually gearing up for our first shipment for our first species, which is focused on Indo-Pacific leopard sharks, which is who you see here.

And if all goes well, the next couple of weeks, we'll be moving our first round of eggs actually from Australia to Indonesia to hatcheries built by local communities.

And those eggs and then the subsequent pups will be cared for by aquarists from the local community on site.

So we at the Seattle Aquarium work really hard every day to provide a welcoming space where new ocean advocates of all ages can come and connect and reconnect with the ocean's inspiring life and learn about how they can make a difference for our ocean.

We're also on the water, underwater, taking action here locally, as well as on the other side of the Pacific.

And as we look to the future, we're excited about expanding our reach and expanding our engagement platform.

And with that, I'm pleased to hand the presentation off to my colleague, Dr. Susan Bodek, to share more about our exciting new Ocean Pavilion project.

Susan.

Great.

Thank you, Erin, and good afternoon, council members.

So the Ocean Pavilion will be a civic landmark at the heart of Seattle's waterfront, reconnecting the city's urban core to Puget Sound.

You see this in the background, the new building in that image.

Prominently situated above the Overlook Walk, along the Overlook Walk connecting Pipe Place Market to the waterfront, the Ocean Pavilion will be central to the new waterfront experience.

This $160 million effort is the first part of a multi-phase transformational master plan to become the world's first regenerative aquarium.

The striking new construction will expand our campus at the heart of Seattle's waterfront and add a global focus to our educational, exhibits, and programs.

It will expand our capacity for direct conservation action around the world.

From Overlook Walk and the rooftop of the Ocean Pavilion, visitors and community members will enjoy sweeping views of Puget Sound, Seattle, Waterfront, and the Port.

Native plants will provide habitat for local birds as part of a shared environment for humans and wildlife alike.

With sweeping views of the Olympic Mountains, Mount Tahoma, and waters of Elliott Bay, the Ocean Pavilion rooftop and Waterfront Plaza will be an inviting place for the community to connect with nature and witness local wildlife, including birds, fish, jellyfish, seals, and other animals that thrive in Puget Sound.

With a welcoming rooftop space designed for community gathers, themed by indigenous and marine based knowledge, the Ocean Pavilion will foster connection and conservation among people and inspire civic pride.

We're excited to deliver new pedestrian pathways, connecting the waterfront with the city, including a new public elevator and stairs.

Outdoor spaces will enable vibrant cultural programming and support outdoor recreation while creating opportunities for people to learn about the marine environment and how they are personally connected to it in their everyday lives.

The Ocean Pavilion expanded Seattle Aquarium Campus will be a place to linger, a central prominent link among Seattle's most iconic destinations in creating a more walkable, more enjoyable urban experience.

Visitors will be able to look into the Ocean Pavilion from the waterfront plaza and see glimpses of tropical marine life, educational exhibits, and Coast Salish art.

Free live interpretation provided by aquarium staff and volunteers outside of the aquarium will inspire visitors to connect with the aquarium's conservation mission whether or not they purchase a ticket.

The Ocean Pavilion will be the anchor for our revitalized aquarium campus and the first aquarium and city building to feature a regenerative design.

The Seattle Aquarium is participating in the Living Building Challenge with a goal of becoming the first aquarium to be PEDL certified.

We aim to achieve climate positive standards across our entire campus, including the Ocean Pavilion.

The operations in the Ocean Pavilion will be 100% fuel free with a focus on climate positive energy use that is generating more energy than it consumes through solar energy offsets.

By achieving these standards and continuing to push for more regenerative solutions across our campus, we will lead the way to a new era of sustainable urban development.

The Ocean Pavilion's global focus will complement and enhance our current interpretation and education that's focused on the Washington waters.

We share one world ocean from Puget Sound to the tropics and our actions here in the Pacific Northwest have an impact on marine ecosystems around the world.

The ocean pavilion will be Seattle's window to the world's waters.

It will create meaningful connections with species from the coral triangle, inviting visitors to learn about marine life across the globe and build empathy that inspires action.

It will be home to approximately 3,500 tropical fish and invertebrates, including 30 species of coral, all sustainably sourced through partnerships with other aquariums and suppliers.

With the Ocean Pavilion's accessibility design exhibits, we will model safe, human, humane marine animal care for endangered species and support our species recovery activities as was referenced by Dr. Myers.

One Ocean Hall will be an interpretive centerpiece with advanced projection technologies that create an immersive experience using the floors and walls.

Staff will lead visitors through live programming that shares the scale and story of the ocean, its importance, and unforgettable new unique experiences.

The Ocean Pavilion will feature dive programming in the main canyon exhibit, introducing visitors to many kinds of marine life that inhabit coral reefs.

Full-time interpretation of the reef and fish exhibits will create a living story of habitat, complexity, and function.

The Ocean Pavilion will also feature glimpses into behind the scenes of the animal care and provide educational programs in interactive program spaces.

hands-on learning opportunities will be possible, augmented by live instruction and video.

Seattle Aquarium honors our location on the traditional and contemporary territories of the Coast Salish people, who have been integral partners in developing the plans for the Ocean Pavilion.

To deepen our connection with the indigenous community, we made it a priority throughout the design process to involve representatives from the Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and urban Indian community as consultants on this project.

They have brought to the project a depth of indigenous knowledge that is integrated both in and outside of the building.

One of those representatives, as Bob Davidson had spoken to, is Robin Little-Lewin-Sigo from the Squamish Nation.

It is a pleasure working with Robin and the other Indigenous consultants on the project, and it's my honor to have her here to share more about this co-creative work.

Robin.

Thank you.

I'm really honored to be here today, and I'm really excited.

I want to call attention to this photo right here, which has my two twins, who are about to be 13 now, and my little niece, Shilah, and my dear friend and cousin, Kate Avacana, and this photo was taken in one of those dark days of the pandemic where we weren't quite sure what was happening or how those things, how the vaccines were going.

And so we were trying to be really, really careful, but we also wanted to bless this groundbreaking because we knew that it was a really important time for the aquarium, for the land that was there.

Breaking ground is something that's very sacred to us, especially in this spot here.

But our goal that day, when it was our first adventure to Seattle since March 2020, and my last adventure had been actually to meet with Aaron for for dinner after we'd gotten back from Bali and to come up with some new things for this particular project.

So it was really a wonderful way to be welcomed back.

Our goal that day was to do the groundbreaking and to really do it in a really good way.

These girls helped us make the necklaces that we passed out.

Those necklaces are really an important part of witnessing because what we wanna remember is that Oral traditions are still really important.

Oral histories are still really important.

And so we want to have these young women here.

They're going to grow up and they're going to tell this story about how the Ocean Pavilion was developed.

in a really good way, in a way that welcomed not just the people who are there, not just hoping and praying and holding space for the people who are working on the project and for their safety, but for that land, for the animals that are right there, for the new animals that will be coming in at a later date.

So I think that this picture really signifies that piece of even in those dark days, we find moments of peace and healing and inspiration.

And I'm looking forward, not just to, you know, getting these kids to have that opportunity to connect with their ancestral land, but also the part where they're connecting with future generations by doing this type of work.

they don't know it as work right yet.

They just know it as they're being voluntold to do something by their parents and they came over and, you know, they met some really nice people who gave them stuffed animals and Seattle Aquarium things.

And, you know, we went through there and it was our first like place around a lot of people and they did so great wearing their masks and they've all been vaccinated since then.

And, you know, So I feel like this photo, when I first saw it in the presentation, just, I felt really shook and very happy about it.

Next slide, please.

At our first intertribal Seattle Aquarium meeting, and I wanna say that was like five years ago at this point, and I brought those two twins that are about to be 13, and they were only eight, and I decided to take them out of school because I as a child always loved going to the aquarium.

It was one of those treks we made over for school assemblies.

And even when we couldn't go in because we didn't have very much money to go into the aquarium, we would still, my dad would walk us on the outside where we could see the salmon and things, and we could see those outside pieces.

So that was one of the important parts that I wanted to bring to this conversation was making sure that there were those outside pieces.

So it didn't matter if you had the money or not to pay for it, that you still got to be immersed in that experience.

There was still something to tell right there.

And fortunately, the Seattle Aquarium has lots of ways to help people who can't afford that at this point.

We also discussed at that meeting the vibrancy of ocean plants and animals, and that it's important to share those successes while also still educating on the dangers and the new technologies we have to deal with things like ocean acidification.

And again, looking at that importance of oral histories and that witnessing process that has been with our tribes since time immemorial, and I know it's with a lot of other communities too, we witness that peace, we hold people accountable, we make sure that that land and that sea is available for the people who need it.

And in this spirit, I was really honored that the aquarium team offered me an opportunity to go to Bali with them to go visit the Coral Triangle Center, because there's part that felt very uncomfortable of trying to make sure that we are representing a culture that I didn't know very well.

And I was so blown away by what I experienced in Bali and seeing what was going on and seeing the commonalities between my tribe and the indigenous people there and recognizing really that one ocean concept, that that same ocean is the same ocean that my dad fishes in.

It's the same ocean that we're bringing back basket cockles with.

It's the same one that we do canoe journey And that piece was really powerful for me.

And so I learned a lot from that trip.

I came back feeling even more passionate about making sure that this concept of one ocean, this concept of how do we welcome these animals and these plants back here, I think that this was a really amazing opportunity.

Next slide, please.

And in keeping with that sense of making sure that we hear from the community, the process for getting the art has been another one that there was a lot of representatives from the Coast Salish community here on the committee.

This is Dan Friday and his presentation, all the presentations were so good.

It was really difficult.

Well, I shouldn't say it was difficult.

It was a real honor to get to sit and watch these presentations and think about their artistic interpretation of what we were doing and what we described and the embodiment of that in those pieces.

And so it was definitely clear that Dan was the right person for this job.

Here's this great image of him, and it gives this really nice movement, which we're hoping that will really come through in the installation once it's there with these blown glass salmon.

Next slide, please.

And then you'll find on the outside, as Susan was talking about, the different ways that the Ocean Pavilion upland to lowland part, they're working with Valerie Seagrass, who is incredible at this.

And I learn a lot anytime she's speaking, but really looking at what some of those natural plants were, that were right here that, you know, that Princess Angeline actually gathered in this spot, like recognizing Dan Friday made sure that we knew that Princess Angeline's house where she lived was within a stone's throw of this area.

She would have looked down on this place.

And so finding all those different connections was really wonderful.

And there'll be a lot of opportunities for interpretation, both by volunteer staff, but also that oral history part, the part that you remember as a child, because you're closer to the ground, because you're holding a grownup's hand.

Those kinds of pieces that you get to share, those are the stories that connect us in community and families, and they build resilience within our community.

And we look forward to building that resilience within the climate, within the ocean.

Next slide.

I'm going to pass this one over to Susan.

Thank you, Robin.

So the Ocean Pavilion, also, as you're looking at this image, you can see on the west-facing side is a wooden side, and that is to represent the more coastal area.

And in reference to what Robin was speaking to, we are using Alaskan native yellow wood for that, and sourced from an indigenous company.

in Canada, so Alaskan yellow cedar on the outside, which we know is very sacred as well to the Coast Salish community.

So as you're aware, there's a lot of construction happening along the waterfront.

Our team continues to work very closely with the city's team on the ground and the coordination is going very well.

Here's an aerial photo of what the site currently looks like.

And you can see there's a lot happening in various places.

The South is to your right and the North is to your left, just to give you some perspective.

We are currently working on the form for the large main exhibit.

It has over a hundred pieces in that form.

You want to go to the next slide.

We'll see these are the pieces sort of like a puzzle that is being put together and all those pieces come together to help form the large main exhibit.

That exhibit also provides support for the public rooftop.

So there's a lot happening in this process.

Over the next two months, nine, actually more, about a month and a half, you'll be seeing this form starting to come up on the waterfront.

Here you see some of the building supports and legs of that large exhibit.

You want to go to the next one, please?

On the blue area is that area looking into the large Coral Canyon exhibit that we were talking about earlier.

And to the right is that public view that you can see into the main exhibit into the aqualus and the lobby below that.

So you start to see some of the walls of the large exhibit coming up.

Next.

And here you see some of the walls for the building, both to the east side there at the top and the west side down in the foreground as well.

Next.

So as you can see, the Ocean Pavilion and the Future Aquarium are quickly taking shape.

We welcome you to come down to the aquarium and tour the construction site.

We will be planning to open the Ocean Pavilion in spring of 2024. And I just want to take a moment to thank Council Member Lewis, President Juarez, and other council members for welcoming us today to give this update on the Seattle Aquarium.

Well, thank you so much for that very thorough presentation and I'm excited now to get to the part where we get to ask some questions about not only the aquarium, but also these future expansion plans in the project going forward on the Ocean Pavilion, which is very exciting for all of us.

I want to start out by saying that in my position now, chairing this committee and being in the position to serve along with Superintendent Williams as an ex officio member of the Aquarium Board to look after the city's investments and interest, it's been really, really inspiring to get acquainted with the deep and passionate mission of conservation that sits within the aquarium organization.

Happy to invite a response that just kind of responds to the conservation mission generally, but this was just at the tip of my mind in kicking off the question and answer session, but there's been a lot of coverage recently regarding the Cedar River Salmon Run and the future of that sockeye run within the city of Seattle, the only salmon run that runs entirely through city of Seattle freshwater waterways.

But I wonder if anyone on the panel would want to expand on ways in which the aquarium has been a strong public partner on fisheries in the Puget Sound generally and salmon in particular, but also any additional information if folks want to fill in a little bit more of the conservation mission and some of the ongoing initiatives the aquarium has.

I think that work has been really inspiring to get to know better.

And I think committee members would be interested in asking additional follow-ups potentially as well.

I feel like I should start with our Cedar River Salmon Journey program that we've been operating for a couple of decades now with a variety of partners.

That's a program that we run annually where we bring staff and volunteers out along the Cedar River to educate people, just the public coming by and others that learn about the program through our website.

to come by and learn about salmon, learn about the challenges that they face, and learn about what they can do to be a part of the solution.

We also, just being down along the waterfront, I think for me one of the things that's also among all the things we've been talking about that's really exciting about the waterfront redevelopment is that a part of that of that 20 to 25 block park there's going to be water filtration, stormwater pollution filtration happening along our waterfront for the first time since there were wetlands along there, which was a long time ago.

And we're hopeful that that will help restore water quality to Elliott Bay and other parts along our urban waterfront.

And it's a nice dovetail with the work that happened to transform the seawall into something that is creating enabling conditions for life for salmon who migrate down along our urban waterways.

I think in thinking about some of our other projects and programs that help support salmon and rockfish and otters, my goodness, we have over a dozen active research and conservation projects here at home throughout the Salish Sea and on the outer coast of Washington.

We have active projects in Hawaii and on the other side of the Pacific.

but focusing in on at home for a moment, there's an exciting new project and partnership that we just recently launched with the Port of Seattle, where we are doing research to understand what's happening with our kelp forests along our urban waterways, why they are where they are, so that we can better help support restoration of kelp forests in our urban waterways.

Recognizing that, yes, kelp is struggling all around Washington's waters, but For many reasons, it's important to start right here in our waterfront, where we can not only help support healthy ecosystems, but it also is an incredible opportunity to engage our urban communities, to help people see and understand what's happening right here at home, right here when you're walking along the waterfront.

There's a lot of life right underwater and indeed right under your feet when you're walking on the waterfront.

And the aquarium has, as I mentioned, over a dozen projects.

We've had a long term program on sea otters on the outer coast where we monitor their health.

We monitor what they're eating, where they're eating, so that we can understand what's happening with that species that was reintroduced to our waters after it was almost fully extinct.

And I imagine we will be continuing that project for a long, long time into the future.

And we're coupling that with some work now to understand what's happening underwater with another new project that we launched with funding from the North Pacific Coast MRC in partnership with the Makah tribe and mainly the Coast National Marine Sanctuary, among others, to, again, understand what's happening with kelp forests and ecosystems underwater over there.

And I could go on and on for hours talking about all of our projects and programs, but I'll pause there.

Thank you very much.

And I definitely encourage council colleagues if they have the time and capacity to go and take advantage of an in-person tour at the aquarium where this information about the conservation initiatives is readily available and a big part of that visit.

Do colleagues have any questions I don't see any questions from other committee members at this time.

I would like an update potentially if someone on the panel is prepared to answer a question along these lines.

But as we come out of COVID, how is the aquarium adjusting to a return of tourists to the waterfront, a return of activity, the ability to go back to indoor spaces like the aquarium to take advantage of it.

How is that recovery coming along and what are some of the hurdles you're facing?

Well, thanks, I'll take a crack at that.

As you may remember, the aquarium was closed for 222 days during the pandemic in two different periods.

And we were very fortunate to have assistance from federal and from city sources and county sources, state sources to help us to get through and survive that period.

And what we now have found is that as you see, if you walk along the waterfront, or look down from the upper hills of the city, the waterfront is bursting with human beings, lots of families.

There's definitely a pent-up demand to be out with your family, a definite demand to enjoy the waterfront.

people getting a bite to eat, going to games.

Within the aquarium itself, our attendance is now back at the level it was pre-COVID.

And people are there as they wish in a variety of protective gear or none.

And the one thing that has been slower to come back have been the class, organized classroom groups, which I think a lot of the school districts have been cautious about bringing those school groups back on field trips.

But that's starting to change.

I think next year, we're looking forward to, dependent upon how things have developed by then, but I think we're looking forward to a full return of school groups then.

And so we have, and our summer camp program is back in full, all sold out, operating, I think, at a 75% capacity.

But it's one of my favorite times of the year is to go through the aquarium and see all these young kids in their summer camp t-shirts loving their experience at the Seattle Aquarium.

I might have just a couple of things to add to that.

One of the things that we did in response to being able to manage how many people were moving through our spaces is we pivoted to time ticketing.

So now you can go online and you can purchase your ticket in advance and choose a time that works well for you.

And that has actually worked doubly well, both from a safety perspective, but also it spreads out our visitors.

So that's a more enjoyable experience in the aquarium.

So it's something I guess a positive outcome of pivoting to that during the pandemic.

And then the other thing I'll say in speaking to our reach into schools is that when we closed to the public in March of 2020, we didn't close all of our programs.

We kept our conservation programs active and that included our school programs, but it meant we pivoted virtual.

So we now, now that we're kind of sort of on the other side, we're doing both.

We're doing virtual programming with schools, virtual programming, community partners, and starting to do onsite programming again.

And we, from an access perspective, we found that that's a way for us to reach into communities and reach into schools and reach partners we wouldn't otherwise be able to reach.

So I think the way forward for us in a program area is likely hybrid.

like in a lot of ways.

So we actually have our first hybrid in-person virtual event tomorrow night, a lightning talks event that we used to have all the time before the pandemic, and it's gonna be our first virtual hybrid in-person event for the public.

So with the different school groups, you said 200 school districts that the aquarium has had a relationship with.

What is the furthest afield school district?

Like how far away?

Well, Golden Dale is quite a ways away.

And I know that we've had school districts in the Spokane area and from all the corners of the state.

Yeah, great.

Sorry, did you have something to add to that?

I'm picturing our map that we have that actually stars all the schools that we work with, and there are stars all over the state.

As you can imagine, especially before the pandemic, there's a larger concentration, you know, within a couple hour drive of the Aquarium for on-site programming.

But we also have always had a program where we go to schools and go to the communities to meet people where they are.

And that's in part how we've reached communities and schools in other parts of the state as well.

Great.

So pivoting back to the Ocean Pavilion, which is just going to be such an exciting centerpiece of what we're doing on the Seattle waterfront.

Has that timeline – I know the spring 2024 is the timeline in the presentation.

Has that been impacted at all by things like the concrete strike or any other kind of delay that we've experienced during the COVID era?

And do we anticipate that to be a fairly set target?

What are the external factors that could affect it?

We actually when the concrete strike was happening at its height of that we were in a phase of doing work in the ground with stabilizing the soil and getting the foundation in there so.

We really didn't have an impact with the concrete.

Concrete started flowing right at the time when we started to need it again.

So that was good.

So it didn't disrupt our schedule.

What's been a little bit different for us is it has delayed some of the schedule, as you all know, with the city and the switching of Alaska Way Road.

But we've been able to be very flexible and nimble.

And keeping the project going, we're in the process of having a bridge over a small portion of Alaska Way to help so that when we're going vertical in the building, which you saw with all those forms, that we have a way to protect cars that are going through that area and workers who are working on the project.

All those things have allowed us to keep going.

Certainly funding and fundraising is a portion that keeps the project moving along as well.

And with all that in place and planned, we feel like we'll be able to accomplish that 2024 date.

So we are on schedule at this point.

Great.

Council colleagues, are there any questions for our panel?

Yes.

Yes, Council President Juarez.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I really want to, first of all, thank Bob, my friend, and Susan and Erin and Robin from Suquamish, and also acknowledge that Council Member Bagshaw worked on this for over a decade.

And this has been so many people and hands on this and so much work with the waterfront, Friends of the Waterfront, the LID, everything, and I always make fun of the two Bobs, Bob Davidson and Bob Donegan, and the Friends of the Waterfront, and of course Thatcher and Maggie and Marshall and all those folks that have been on the other side of raising money.

But a special shout out to the Suquamish Nation and Robin and Chairman Forsman, who have instituted, and Bob and team being open to, obviously, this whole co-management approach with tribal governments on the waterfront.

by having people like Colleen Echo Hawk and other folks and bringing in local tribal leadership, not only for the structure, but also being honest and authentic about the city of Seattle's history.

And so when people come here and tourists come here, they see the real Seattle and the original stewards of the land, the Coast Salish people.

And it just, I mean, when we were talking about this, I don't know, 10 years ago, I never thought we'd get this far.

and then being on council and having the opportunity to share in working with these great groups who wanted this to happen.

And Robin, thank you for bringing up the whole, you know, the canoe journeys and all those issues, because the canoe journey stops down at the port with the powwow that they have every summer.

So that was really important.

And I should just say that, not the port, the waterfront, that Bob Davidson has always been such a good steward and a good partner.

And I want to thank him for that.

And we didn't always agree on everything, but we agreed on enough.

And Robin, I didn't hear about the ballet trip.

I guess I didn't get the email or the invite.

So I guess next time.

So with that, thank you so much.

I really appreciate it.

You posted those pictures of your daughters again.

So thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you so much, Council President, and thank you for lifting up that work from Council Member Bagshaw.

And it is a great privilege to have Council Member Bagshaw as a constituent to continue to consult on some of these projects that impact the waterfront now that she is back in town from her time at Harvard.

Are there any other questions from committee members?

Council Member Mosqueda.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I just wanted to thank the panel as well for the presentation and for all that you did to create a safe place for people to go during the pandemic, the ongoing pandemic.

And I know that we, my family, our daughter had the chance to visit the aquarium during the pandemic on one of those semi-rainy days.

It was a great escape from the routine of being so isolated and having the chance to be in a place that was really adhering to COVID protocols and making sure that the patrons were masked.

It was really helpful to know that you felt safe and were also able to engage in educational opportunities for kiddos and adults.

And just wanted to thank the Aquarium for all that they've done in these really tough times to continue to provide educational opportunities and what, of course, you're building for the next generation as well.

And thanks for treating us all so well when we come by.

But for all that you did during this pandemic to really create opportunities for people to get out in a safe way was greatly appreciated.

Excellent.

Are there any other questions from committee members?

Okay, seeing none, this was a really great discussion.

I did just want to point out there that the council will have some additional legislation before it related to the aquarium that having consulted with my colleague, Council Member Mosqueda, we determined would probably be better suited in the Finance and Housing Committee, and we did foreshadow that legislation coming in this morning's Finance and Housing Committee in Council Member Mosqueda giving an overview of the committee meeting.

And could you remind me, Council Member Mosqueda, that's gonna be, that legislation's gonna be taken up when?

Is it in two weeks where we're having our first meeting?

Thank you, Council Member Lewis and Mr. Chair.

We are going to have three pieces, three to five pieces of legislation in front of us at the August 11th meeting.

This is a special time because our August 3rd meeting isn't working out.

So we're going to have August 11th at nine thirty and there will be three to five pieces of legislation on the docket for that day.

And this is all in the wake of the Dempak meeting this morning, which has suggested to the council to move forward with some inter-fund loan opportunities.

So more to come on that, but thank you, Mr. Chair, for your partnership on this, and to central staff, Ali Panucci and Tom Mikesell for working on it with our team as well.

Thank you.

So hopefully this briefing today, given some overlap of committee membership, was a good opportunity to foreshadow some of those discussions that we'll be having early next month.

So with that, I don't have any other agenda item that has been queued up for committee consideration.

Are there any closing comments that the panel wants to make here before we move to adjourn the meeting today?

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The only thing I would say in closing is, back to your comments, Debra, about Sally and others who have been so helpful in encouraging us at the aquarium to make the aquarium all that it could become over these years and into this exciting future and the future of the waterfront.

And it's, I feel, and with Christopher Williams over these years, I feel this is one of the best examples I've seen of a public-private partnership that's genuine and impactful and makes a difference.

Hey, Bob, I would even go as far as to say public, private, tribal.

We haven't seen a lot of that in this city, unless we're being sued or we're suing them.

So to see Muckleshoot, Suquamish, Tulalip, all these other tribes come forward and the art that was put down there in Lushootse language.

I mean, I hadn't seen that earlier in my lifetime.

Everything's always been a lawsuit and co-management are fighting about it.

So to see all three come together, including for the fundraising and having chairman Forsman involved as well.

I mean, it doesn't get better than that, so thank you.

You are so right.

Okay, well, with that, council colleagues, we will go ahead and close out agenda item one.

Are there any last comments for the good of the order?

Seeing none, it is 2.58 p.m., and hearing no further business before the committee, we are adjourned.

Thank you.

So,