Reclaiming history

Our client, Foss Waterway Seaport (FWS), operates the Working Waterfront Maritime Museum which links Tacoma’s historic place as bustling, colorful port city to its development into a crucial gateway to Alaska and Asia. The one-of-a-kind, hands-on museum gives visitors of all ages a chance to learn how to build a boat or navigate the seas, explore Puget Sound’s rich maritime history and learn about the local marine environment along the Foss Waterway in Tacoma.

The Seaport's location, the historic, city-owned Balfour Dock building—which is the last of the timber frame warehouses that once defined a bustling waterfront culture—was slowly crumbling into Puget Sound. But because the building itself is a major piece of Tacoma's rich history, there was nowhere to move. The building needed to be fixed.

Preservation efforts like those undertaken by our client, Foss Waterway Seaport (FWS), require government funding—which is difficult to come by in a constricted economy. To help FWS secure funding for the project, Pyramid worked to raise the project’s profile both in the local community and among key elected officials. Our ability to tell the story of FWS got results both in the media and at the state capitol—to the tune of $750,000 in vital funds in Gov. Chris Gregoire’s 2010–2011 budget.