Governor Christine Gregoire toured The Nordic Heritage Museum this afternoon and learned its plans for the future. “On the eve of Leif Erikson day, welcome,” said the museum’s executive director Eric Nelson as the governor walked through the front doors of the old schoolhouse on NW 67th St.
She toured the building that has housed the museum for 25 years, and shook hands with members of the board, volunteers and politicians. She greeted retired state representative Helen Sommers, pictured above, who represented the 36th district for decades.
Facing tough economic times, the governor told the group that she believes that as a community we’ll come out stronger on the other side of the downturn. She cited a Finnish word, “sisu,” which translates to “tenacious courage,” she said. “That’s what I think this is all about. You are determined to move forward. This is a great building. It will be missed. There’s no question about that.” And with that she moved on to see the plans for the future.
Governor Gregoire and a small group gathered at the museum’s capital campaign office on Market Street near the future site of the museum. Architect Richard Franko showed off the vision of the new building which will hopefully become an international destination for Nordic culture. He highlighted the “green” aspects, and he said they plan to have the building certified LEED silver, although they’ll go as high as they can. They hope to break ground in 2012 and be open two years later. At the end of the tour the governor proclaimed, “Today was a fun day. Not every day is fun!”
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