Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/303828
36 w e s t w o r l d | s u m m e r 2 0 1 4 (above) mahesh thapa/museum of glass, (opposite) barb sligl Once a working-class way station between Seattle and Portland, sea- side Tacoma's claim to fame was hav- ing the largest lumber mill in the world, something musician Neko Case alludes to in her lyrics. She grew up here and touches upon Tacoma's beleaguered history as a declining blue-collar town in the song "rice All American": "I wanna tell you about my hometown/It's a dusty old jewel in the South Puget Sound/ Where the factories churn/And the timber's all cut down." It's a love song of sorts, and I listen to it on the Amtrak Cascades train from Vancouver, B.C., gliding past still coves, ancient trees and stretches of driftwood-strewn beach. "People who built it they love it like I do/ere was hope in the train- yard of something inspired," sings Case. Her ode to Tacoma is even more poignant given that something inspired has indeed transpired. It's that inspiration I'm seeking on a weekend jaunt south of the bor- der with my beau, starting with the leisurely five-hour-plus train ride that drops us off within minutes of down- town, where rough-and-tumble has morphed into the Tacoma Museum District. Here, six world-class muse- ums within blocks of each other are the nexus of what's become one of America's most walkable cities. We stroll from the Tacoma Art Museum over the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, past the intricate, almost animated glass creations of the Venetian Wall to the restored urban water front and Museum of Glass. Its towering 27-metre Hot Shop cone, itself a mix of old and new, references industrial-age chimneys in a starkly modern design. It's Tacoma's new hallmark, where young men and women stoke blazing fires as in times gone by, but with modern-day passion. Tacoma On the edge of Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, a former timber town sparkles with glass art and a hip new vibe Turnaround by barb Sligl W hat do Andy Warhol, Heath Ledger, Neko Case and Dale Chihuly have in common? Tacoma. Really. Pop artist and icon, tragic actor, indie-darling musician and living-legend glassblower – all have a connection to the city just south of Seattle largely known as the other half of SeaTac airport. ere's an artistic pull in this once down-and-out port, and it's growing stronger. is is Tacoma's turnaround. The dream-like shapes of Dale Chihuly's Seaform Pavilion on the Bridge of Glass. p36-41_Tacoma.indd 36 14-04-11 2:43 PM