Funding To Create A Community Public Space Outside the Renovated Pavilion Building - a building sorely in need of being modernized and becoming accessible to the entire community
The City of Renton’s downtown revitalization project is underway, involving the renovation of a nearly two-decades old Pavilion Building into a vibrant and accessible Logan Place Market. The city purchased the Pavilion Building, a former automobile dealership, in 2004.
Since that purchase, the city has experienced explosive growth, particularly among communities of color which now comprise 58 percent of Renton’s population. The city sees a dire need to refurbish the Pavilion Building to create a new heartbeat in the center of downtown, and to bring new opportunities and access to historically disadvantaged communities.
While the Pavilion is used for some events in evening hours, it is lacking in terms of day use, has no space to host the city’s diverse communities, and does not provide any access to minority- and women-owned and historically disadvantaged businesses, which are in dire need of incubator space to help start-up enterprises flourish.
Renton’s plan—a vibrant market on the inside, a public square on the outside
The city’s plans for the Pavilion Building, first outlined in a Civic Core planning document, call for the Pavilion to be renovated into a more vibrant Logan Place Market that will have retail space, rotating vendors, and business incubator space on the inside, complemented by a welcoming public square on the outside.
Renton is working with U.S. Senator Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Adam Smith to secure $1.5 million in congressionally designated funding that will help to finance the Logan Place Market space on the inside of the redeveloped Pavilion Building. The city’s 2023–2025 Capital Budget request to the Legislature is for funding to create the public square on the outside of the building.
What the public square will contain and Renton’s specific request
The illustrated renderings show Renton’s vision for the public square, which will become a central gathering place in the downtown where community residents can work, shop, relax, meet with friends, connect to trails, or watch events.
The square will focus on community spaces to include seating, play areas, gathering spots, and hosting events. Public access to restrooms will be addressed to help provide longer visitation access to the public square. Overall design to incorporate the Logan Place Market with this public square will be critical in the success of placemaking and creating the inclusive space for residents, visitors and our business community.
To fully design and construct this space, the city has a preliminary estimate of $5 million. However, Renton’s request of the 2023 Legislature is $2 million—half allocated to pre-construction design and half allocated to building out key portions of the initial space with necessary fixtures for the public square to support the Logan Place Market.