Less than 2 weeks after the pre-construction phase was complete, the Tateuchi Foundation is gifting $25 million towards the creation of what has long been known as Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE). With the generous donation also come the naming rights of the performing arts center, which will now be known as the Tateuchi Center.
The project has now raised $60 million of the $160 million goal. Fundraising hasn’t come as easily as organizers had once thought. The hope is with this large contribution that other donors will now be encouraged to donate as well. The 5-story, 135,000 square-foot Tateuchi Center is planned to break ground in the summer of 2011, which would put the project on track to open in the first half of 2014.
According to the Seattle Times the $25 million donation ranks among the biggest gifts to an art organization in the area, matching the $25 million donation to the Seattle Art Museum from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and surpassing the $20 million the McCaw family donated to McCaw Hall at Seattle Center.
This is the single largest gift ever given to an Eastside non-profit, according to the Tateuchi Foundation. I love that it also represents the growing diversity of our City. Bellevue is in great need of a performance venue larger than Meydenbauer’s 450 seats. With 2000 seats, we’ll have advanced staging to accommodate touring shows and serve as an alternative venue for the larger Seattle groups: symphony, ballet, opera. My hope is that this generous gift jump-starts other Eastside donors to come forward now so ground breaking can take place and we can begin to enjoy the Tateuchi Center sooner than later.
uh, sorry for being such a rube but how is that pronounced?
You’re not the only one with this question 😉
This is good news, indeed. The eastside is blossoming into a vibrant place to go and enjoy the arts.
It’s pronounced like this: Tat-ee-OO-chi
Tat (kind of like “tot,” as in a small child)
eee
oo (like “moo”)
chi (like “chia pet”)