Construction has started on the new ShoWare Center marquee that is expected to be operating by Jan. 7.<\/p>\n
Workers installed a 20-foot high base Dec. 15 to hold a video display that is 9 feet high by 17 feet wide. The double-sided sign will feature full-color screens. Crews will install the sign by the first of the year.<\/p>\n
The marquee will help promote Seattle Thunderbirds hockey games, concerts and other events at the city-owned ShoWare Center, 625 W. James St. The cost of the marquee is $190,000, according to a Kent city media release.<\/p>\n
The Kent City Council voted in August to spend up to $225,000 from the city’s lodging tax reserve fund to pay for the sign at the 2-year-old arena.<\/p>\n
Kent receives about $150,000 per year from the lodging tax. The Legislature approved in 1997 a lodging tax that directs 1 percent of city taxes collected on hotel room sales to be used to promote tourism.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always wanted to have a marquee for the building, but when we opened it two years ago the lodging tax fund did not yet have enough in reserve to cover the costs,\u201d said Councilmember Les Thomas, who also is chairman of the Lodging Tax Advisory Board. \u201cI\u2019m thrilled we\u2019re able to do it now. It\u2019s a Christmas present for Kent.\u201d<\/p>\n