Pledges Pour In For Plaza Project

Good news from City Hall for Plaza project supporters. Yakima business owners and individual community members have stepped up to provide another nearly $2 million in private pledges toward the project. That’s on top of the 2 million originally pledged by the Plath family. The Downtown Plaza Plan calls for 7 million in city funds which already have been secured and 7 million from the private sector. A press release from City Hall says additional pledges are expected to be announced in the near future

“The latest round of pledges shows that business leaders and community members see the Central Plaza as a valuable economic development tool and a key piece of the ongoing revitalization of Downtown Yakima,” said City of Yakima Economic Development Manager Sean Hawkins. “Momentum has been building over the last few months and now we’re seeing real results,” said Hawkins. “I’m confident we’ll reach the goal of $7 million in private contributions.”

The most recent pledges bring the current private contribution total to $3,938,800. The City of Yakima has budgeted $2.8 million in 2016 to complete the first phase of the project.
The single largest private pledge made since the Plath family announced its pledge comes from Peggy Lewis at $1 million. Lewis’ husband Walter and his brothers Lester and Victor founded Yakima Pine Products in the 1950s, which after merging with another company, was sold to worldwide building products manufacturer JELD-WEN, Inc. in 1990.
Both B.T. Loftus Ranches, a major hop producer for craft breweries, and John I. Haas, Inc., the leading supplier of hops in North America, have each pledged $250,000 to the plaza project. Poppoff, Inc., a Yakima concrete firm, has donated $100,000. The balance of the current nearly $4 million in private pledges is made up of contributions in varying amounts from 18 other individuals or businesses.

Pledges to the Downtown Central Plaza Project can be made online at yakimacentralplaza.com or by contacting Sean Hawkins by phone at 575-6274 or by e-mail at sean.hawkins@yakimawa.gov.

The City Council will have an informational update on the Plaza at its January 19th meeting.