Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell awarded Joann Piquette the Key to the City on Tuesday, praising her “indomitable spirit” in making the Performing Arts and Event Center a reality.

Piquette, the voice of the Federal Way Coalition of the Performing Arts, has been an advocate for the construction of a performing arts center since before the city’s 1990 incorporation.

“This recognition shows that if you believe in a project and are willing to work toward it, persistence does bring results if you include a big dose of patience,” Piquette said.

Ferrell commended Piquette’s tenacity and ability to “not take ‘no’ for an answer.” Now, her “vision is rising out of the ground” as construction on the Performing Arts and Event Center progresses.

The 44,000-square-foot center is expected to open in summer 2017.

Piquette thanked the city for the honor and said she shares it with all who have been involved in the Performing Arts Center since 1989, which was when the coalition organized, and those who have “donated so generously.”

The coalition thus far has raised $878,289 and has $23,000 in commitments, which include naming rights and names on some of the 716 seats, totaling $901,000.

“We’re getting close to our goal of $1 million,” Piquette said in an email. “[It’s] pretty exciting for us after all these years and to see the [Performing Arts and Event Center] develop weekly.”

Piquette has been a member of the Human Services, Arts, and Lodging Tax commissions for as long as she’s lived in the Federal Way area – since 1961.

“It will be so rewarding when the [Performing Arts and Event Center] opens in about a year and we begin a whole new adventure,” Piquette said. “It will be a place for all of us.”

City officials began giving the Key to the City to deserving citizens in January 2014. The first Key to the City was given to King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer. Since then, Mary Gates, Tracey Eide, Teri Hickel and Harold G. Booker Sr. have recieved the honor.