Where the $28M Kingdome tax money is going

The Kingdome might be gone, but the excess tax money used to build a new roof of the now-imploded stadium will be used to preserve some historic Seattle buildings.

King County Executive Dow Constantine signed his proposal to make an investment of $28.4 million in capital improvement grants to 100 cultural facilities and projects across King County. The “Building for Culture” legislation is the largest one-time investment King County has made to build new cultural facilities, as well expand, preserve, and improve existing ones.

The historic preservation projects include investment into the Bellevue Youth Theater, KidsQuest Museum, Kirkland Arts Center, and Performance Arts Center Eastside.

“I proposed Building for Culture to leverage lodging taxes paid by visitors, and reinvest them in the bricks and mortar of museums, theaters, and heritage sites so we can continue to attract more visitors and locals alike,” Constantine said. “What’s special is the depth and breadth of these investments – youth and ethnic heritage centers; the historic theatres of downtown Seattle and new cultural destinations countywide; landmarks and treasured historic buildings.”

Here’s a rundown of where the money is going:

• Investing for Youth: $1,631,500 &#8212 Providing the resources needed to develop the audiences, performers and arts enthusiasts for future generations:

Bellevue Youth Theatre, Coyote Central, Evergreen City Ballet, KidsQuest Children’s Museum, Music Works Northwest, Pacific Northwest Ballet Bellevue School, and Seattle Children’s Theatre.

• Investing in New Cultural Destinations: $8,697,500 &#8212 Completion of longstanding building projects to provide performance and community spaces, as well as spaces for expanded education programming and new interpretive parks:

Burke Museum, Center for Wooden Boats, Duvall Foundation for the Arts, Eritrean Association in Greater Seattle, Freehold Theatre Lab Studio, Holocaust Center for Humanity, Jimi Hendrix Park, KidsQuest Children’s Museum, Friends of KEXP, Mini-Mart City Park, Museum of Flight Aviation Pavilion, Nordic Heritage Museum, Northwest Railway Museum Education Center, Performing Arts Center Eastside, Shoreline Historical Museum, Vashon Allied Arts Center for the Arts, and Washington State Jewish Historical Society.

• Investing in South King County: $4,673,844 &#8212 Funding for new infrastructure in a region that has traditionally had less access to resources:

Auburn Masonic Temple, Auburn Arts Center, Carco Theatre, Covenant Beach Lodge in Des Moines, Duwamish Hill in Tukwila, Enumclaw Expo and Event Center, Evergreen City Ballet, Highline Historical Society, Federal Way Performing Arts and Events Center, Moshier Arts Center in Burien, Museum of Flight, Renton Historical Society, Sea Mar Museum of Latino History and Cultural Center, and White River Valley Museum.

• Investing in Historic Theatres: $3,006,137 &#8212 Replacing failing heating and cooling systems, revamping elevators that no longer work, and restoring historic features of heavily-used community spaces:

The Fifth Avenue Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre (ACT), On the Boards, The Paramount Theater, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theater, Town Hall Seattle, and Washington Hall.

• Saving Landmarks: $2,000,000 &#8212 Thirty-four projects dedicated to the rehabilitation or acquisition of landmark properties.

Highlights include seismic retrofits and repairs to unreinforced masonry buildings in Seattle’s International District; rehab of suburban Community Halls that serve as gathering places in Shoreline, Kenmore, Skykomish, and Tukwila; and substantial safety repairs at the Georgetown Steam Plant, a nationally-significant industrial landmark.