Page 188 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

186  P A CIFIC NOR THWEST REGION B Y REGION

mansions, is named for Stadium
High School, which is also
known as the “Castle.” Designed
in the 1890s to be a luxury hotel,
the French chateau-style
building was converted in the
early 1900s into a high school.
The undisputed star of the
city’s revitalized waterfront is
the striking Museum of Glass.
Opened in July 2002, this land-
mark building was designed
by top Canadian architect
Arthur Erickson to showcase
The magnificent cascades of contemporary art, with a focus
Snoqualmie Falls on glass. The 75,000-sq-ft The imposing Stadium High School,
(6,968-sq-m) museum includes in Tacoma’s Stadium District
0 Snoqualmie Falls a spacious glassblowing studio
Road map 1 B2. housed within a dramatic 90-ft graphic art. The museum also
(37-m) metal-encased cone. holds the world’s largest retro-
The most famous waterfall in The stunning Chihuly Bridge spective permanent collec tion
the state, Snoqualmie Falls is of Glass, a collaboration between of glass art by Dale Chihuly. In
Washington’s second-most- Austin, Texas architect Arthur 2014, a new wing, designed by
visited tourist attraction after Andersson and world-renowned Seattle’s Olson Kundig Architects,
Mount Rainier. This 268-ft (82-m) Tacoma glass artist Dale Chihuly, was opened. This building
waterfall on the Snoqualmie serves as a pedestrian walkway doubled the museum’s gallery
River draws one and a half linking the museum to down- space and houses the Haub
million visitors each year. Long town Tacoma and the innovative Family Collection of Western
regarded as a sacred site by the Washington State History American Art. In keeping with
Snoqualmie Indians and other Museum. Tales of Washington’s its vision of creating a place
local Native American tribes, past are related using interactive that “builds community through
the cascade also fascinated exhibits, high-tech displays, art,” the museum’s facilities also
the naturalist John Muir, who, and theatrical storytelling by include the Bill and Melinda
in 1889, described it as the most characters in period costume. Gates Resource Center,
interesting he had ever seen. The spectacular home of providing access to a wide array
An observation deck 300 ft the Tacoma Art Museum was of reference materials and state-
(91 m) above the river provides designed by architect Antoine of-the-art research equip ment.
an excellent view of the Predock to be a dynamic cultural As well, kids of all ages can make
thundering water. For a closer center and a showpiece for the use of the in-house, interactive
look, visitors can follow a steep city. The 50,000-sq-ft (4,645-sq- art-making studio, ArtWORKS.
half-mile (0.8 km) trail down m), stainless-steel-wrapped Tacoma’s most popular
to the river. museum boldly show cases the attraction is Point Defiance Park,
growing collection of works ranked among the 20 largest
from the 18th century to the urban parks in the US. Its
q Tacoma present day. These include a grounds include Fort Nisqually,
large assembly of Pacific the first European settlement
Road map 1 A2. * 200,000.
k Seattle-Tacoma International Northwest art, European on Puget Sound and a major
Airport. n 1516 Pacific Ave, (253) Impressionist pieces, Japanese fur-trading establishment; seven
627-2836. ∑ traveltacoma.com woodblock prints, and American specialty gardens; a scenic drive;
Washington’s third-largest city,
Tacoma was founded as a saw-
mill town in the 1860s. With
the arrival of the railroad in
the late 1880s it prospered,
becoming a major shipping port
for commodities important to a
growing nation: lumber, coal,
and grain. Many of the Pacific
Northwest’s railroad, timber,
and shipping barons settled in
Tacoma’s Stadium District. This
historic area, with its stately
turn-of-the-19th-century The modern exterior of the Tacoma Museum of Glass
For hotels and restaurants see pp288–90 and pp300–2

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