MH $$: The Numbers Explained

My head is swimming with all the numbers being thrown around regarding the Maritime Heritage Initiative money and along comes Holly Taylor, a local preservation consultant, with a lifeline. She's studied the issue and she sent me some documentation that explains the situation very nicely. Send e-mail to me care of MHN and I can forward the whole document. Here's some highlights:

• Start-up funding for initial operations of the Maritime Heritage Initiative is requested from the City of Seattle, King County, the Port of Seattle, and Washington State, in equal amounts of $150,000, for a total investment of $600,000.
• The seed funding in 2007-2008 will be used to open the long-awaited "heritage shipyard" at the King County Metro Dock on north Lake Union (negotiations pending); to broaden all maritime activities at South Lake Union Park; and to link the two sites with public programs that demonstrate the full range of our rich maritime culture.
• The City of Seattle and King County are in the middle of budget deliberations now, which is why there is so much focus on these two governments.
• The requested seed money will be used in part to match two 2007-2008 Washington State Heritage Capital Projects Fund (HCPF) awards for important Initiative projects, both of which were recently recommended for funding by the State Historical Society (pending approval by the State Legislature): $400,000 for major capital improvements at the King County Metro Dock/Heritage Shipyard site; $235,000 for maritime-related amenities at South Lake Union Park

The City of Seattle's capital budget has a line item of $400,000 for the schooner Wawona. This line item is NOT related to the push by Maritime Heritage Initiative partners for the start-up funding.

Here's links: City of Seattle; King County.