1912 Center letter to the editor

["Priscilla Salant" <psalant@moscow.com>]

To the editor of the Daily News,

I support the 1912 Center for three reasons. First, the building will give residents and visitors more reasons to come downtown. As in other communities, Moscow’s downtown merchants struggle to stay in business as economic activity moves to the city's outskirts. The 1912 Center will strengthen the central business core of our community, helping keep it alive and vibrant.

Second, the activities planned for the 1912 Center will add outstanding cultural and educational resources to our community. We make Moscow unique by offering the Palouse Discovery Science Center to students and educators throughout the region. We provide new opportunities to be creative by providing arts and woodworking classes. By incorporating these functions into our community center, we build on the strengths and talents of our university and schools. These activities add a cultural richness unheard of in a community this size.

Finally, the building itself is a catalyst for incredible energy and financial resources. Volunteers have worked for years — and a generous donor has provided $2 million — to renovate the old high school. No one, however, has come forward with one hour or one dollar to build a new facility outside downtown. The reason people have given so generously and been so inspired is because of the building and its location. It simply would not have happened otherwise.

I believe the current price tag of $5.5 million is too high and I question the assumptions on which it is based. I challenge the project’s critics to work with me and other members of the Mayor’s Task Force to find ways to bring the cost down. If we do not, we will lose an opportunity not likely to present itself again in the foreseeable future.

Priscilla Salant

Moscow, Idaho