As my car is rear-wheel drive and my condo has a slight incline, which can be difficult to maneuver in slick situations, I have been somewhat snowbound.

On Dec. 22, myself and guest who has four-wheel drive took a tour of our city during last-minute shopping.

While on 320th Street in front of The Commons mall, I was asked if this is what we considered the downtown area. He brought to my attention that The Commons seemed to have good store occupancy, but the old Target, Toys-R-Us, Roadhouse and Azteca areas were quite forlorn-looking. He even noted that some strip malls had vacancy signs.

I explained to him that we have attracted some new small businesses and that if the Federal Way City Council continued to support a performing arts and cultural center, we would hope to revitalize and provide a new level of economic stimulus to our community.

Having traveled to most U.S. large cities, he assumed that most of us went to Seattle for entertainment. Obviously, this is a good perception, since he identified with the Seahawks, Mariners, the Paramount and Fifth Avenue theaters.

Now if a guest can make these observations in a relatively short time, perhaps the city council should continue its interest in a performing arts and cultural center located in our downtown core.

We know that an arts center would foster cultural growth and enrichment for community students and performance groups.

We know that at the state and federal levels, there is activity to provide an economic stimulus and because of the current economy, this is a good time to invest in construction projects. As you know, the Federal Way School District is currently benefiting from lower construction bids and the performing arts center project could also cost less than originally researched.

Why not include or prioritize a performing arts and cultural center in the city council’s requests to the state Legislature?

Since both the city and state have set money aside for capital projects, why not have a return on investment from creating jobs, revenue from visitors, local businesses and new business locations?

Why not continue to consider a land donation estimated at $5 million?

Why should other municipalities apply and receive capital project money that would make their communities more visible and jump-start their stalled economies?

If Federal Way doesn’t continue its support of a performing arts and cultural center, we will miss an opportunity to move forward with our own stimulus plan, plus lose money without any chance of advancing relief of our downtown core.

Maureen Hathaway

Federal Way