SEATTLE -- People drive by it every day and may not know its cultural significance.
But Aiden Lang looks at the corner of 4th and Mercer and sees a bright spot.
"The building has been condemned for over a decade now," said Lang, Seattle Opera's general director, as he opens up the lock to the old Mercer Arena. "You never know what you're going to find in here."
He now dodges rain buckets for the leaky roof and old seats, as he tells the vision he has for the future.
Lang is trying to finalize a deal to demolish the old arena and build a $60 million development for the opera.
The arena has stood in this spot since 1927 and has served many purposes over time, including hosting the Seattle Thunderbirds, basketball games, and concerts.
Local historian Paul Dorpat says it was part of a complex constructed on the eve of the great depressions.
"A coliseum, civic field, and arena," said Dorpat, "for the amusement of people who needed low-end, entertainment like ice skating, and large rallies."
The Civic Auditorium was later replaced by an Opera House, and then McCaw Hall.
"It's not had a great recent history, and I think the future has long been in doubt," said Dorpat, who maintains a website on Seattle's history. The property once served as a farm, which supplied vegetables for Seattle in the Pioneer Days, he says, and once was home for a mule corral.
Corraling millions of federal dollars is now Lang's mission. He says the opera will need it in order to break ground next year. The expansion has been delayed for a decade because of the economic downturn, and Lang argues the timing couldn't be better.
"We need to seize the day," he said.
Lang says the opera has quadrupled the amount of people they serve through educational and vocational programs. The new building will house staging and rehearsal space, along with classrooms and office space as well. Lang says a central location for the opera will also cut down on trips to and from a South King County warehouse, making the project carbon friendly.
The Seattle City Council and mayor agree and have signed a letter pushing for federal funds. Lang will take it with him next week when he visits Washington, D.C., in pursuit of the final piece of the puzzle.
"We are a civic asset," he argued. "Memories live on, but it's important we move on as well, life goes on."
(Editor's note: Seattle historian Paul Dorpat's website can be found here.)
