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Tourism Commission

BEL-TOU-2025-09-23 September 23, 2025 City Council Regular Meeting City of Bellingham 45 min
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The Bellingham Tourism Commission convened for its regular September meeting to review the 2026 budget and hear presentations from three major funding recipients. The most significant agenda item was a comprehensive presentation requesting $450,000 in lodging tax funds for a world-class waterfront skate park under the Rotary Street Bridge. The proposal, presented by Mayor Kim Lund, the Northwest Skate Collective, and design firm Grindline Skate Parks, positions the covered facility as a tourism destination that would complement Bellingham's existing action sports reputation built around Mount Baker snowboarding and Galbraith mountain biking. Staff presented a 2026 budget projecting a 10% revenue decline due to reduced Canadian visitation amid tariff discussions, while maintaining flat funding for most programs. The Mount Baker Theater reported strong performance with 116,000 visitors in 2024-25, including 16% from outside Whatcom County, while the Whatcom Museum announced plans to reopen the historic first fire station building by 2028 as a new exhibition space. The tourism grant program continued its dramatic growth, with 54 applications requesting $1.2 million in funding for 2026, more than doubling from 2024 levels. The Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) will make final funding recommendations at the October 28 meeting, facing difficult decisions with limited resources amid declining revenues.

**Minutes Approval:** Approved unanimously by voice vote (Kevin Coleman motion, Matt Lesinski second). **Budget Review:** No formal action taken. The 2026 draft budget was presented for information and discussion, with final LTAC recommendations scheduled for October. **Skate Park Presentation:** No formal vote. The $450,000 funding request for…

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**Tourism Revenue Decline:** Staff reported approximately 10% year-over-year decline in lodging tax revenues, attributed primarily to reduced Canadian visitation following tariff discussions that began in February 2025. Revenue projections for 2026 assume continued 10% reduction, though recent months showed some stabilization due to higher average nightly rates offsetting lower occupancy. **Waterfront Skate Park as Tourism Infrastructure:** The presentation framed the proposed $3 million skate park project (with $450,000 in lodging tax contribution) as aligning with the Tourism Commission's strategic plan for recreational infrastructure investment. Proponents argued the covered, lighted …
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**Mayor Kim Lund** strongly advocated for the waterfront skate park, emphasizing its potential to transform an underutilized downtown area while building on Bellingham's action sports reputation: "We see this as a complement to what Bellingham and Whatcom County are known for." **James from Grindline Skate Parks** provided design expertise, noting Bellingham's ideal covered location and projecting the facility would become "the newest and best and the most premier" skate park in the Pacific Northwest. **John Aguilar** spoke as a skateboard family representative, noting his daughter Nina's Olympic representation for Mexico and the challeng…
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**Mayor Kim Lund, on the skate park vision:** "We hold a vision for something that's very different than what's there today... we see this as a skate park that just... re... Is able to re... stamp an underutilized area of our downtown, our waterfront, that completely is another way to communicate to people who live here and to people who will travel here. Like, we are world-class for action sports." **Tara Sundin, on revenue challenges:** "Revenues are down this year... what we're seeing is a…
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**October 28, 2025:** LTAC will convene for final budget deliberations and tourism grant recommendations. Meeting scheduled for 3:30 PM with extended time allocated due to heavy agenda. **October 22, 2025:** Deadline for Tourism Commission members to submit grant application rankings to staff. **October 13, 2025:** Whatcom County LTAC meeting for events and festivals funding decisions. **November 5, 2025:…

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The Tourism Commission established a new precedent allowing non-LTAC members to participate in grant application review and ranking, expanding input beyond the seven statutory LTAC voting members to include the full nine-member Tourism Commission. The waterfront skate park emerged as a concrete budget proposal with detailed design specifications and economic impact projections, moving beyond conceptual discussion to a formal $450,000 funding request representing 15% of the total $3 million project cost. Tourism grant applications…
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# New Venue, Bold Visions: Tourism Commission Embraces Waterfront Skate Park Proposal The Bellingham Tourism Commission convened in the City Council Chambers on September 23, 2025, marking their first meeting in this more formal venue after years of gathering in the Mayor's Boardroom. Commission Chair Peter Frazier, former owner of the Heliotrope Hotel and Hotel Leo, welcomed the new setting while acknowledging the adjustment to speaking into microphones for online participants. The change in venue seemed fitting for an evening that would feature ambitious presentations about Bellingham's tourism future, including a compelling proposal for a world-class waterfront skate park. The meeting brought together a diverse group of tourism stakeholders, from hotel operators to arts advocates, with several commissioners attending virtually. Mayor Kim Lund was present for the skate park presentation, underscoring the significance of the proposal. The agenda was packed with institutional updates and a budget overview that would set the stage for crucial October decisions about funding priorities. ## 2026 Budget Overview: Navigating Revenue Decline Tara Sundin, presenting the administration's proposed 2026 budget, painted a sobering picture of tourism revenues. "Revenues are down this year," she explained, attributing the decline primarily to reduced Canadian visitation. The budget assumes a 10% reduction in revenue compared to the previous year, a drop that began appearing consistently in monthly receipts. "We saw our first big month of decline in February of this year," Sundin noted, connecting the timing to early discussions about tariffs that may have deterred Canadian visitors. While the most recent month showed revenue on par with the previous year, this was attributed to increased hotel pricing rather than more visitors. The proposed budget totals $2.9 million in expenses against $2.2 million in projected revenue, resulting in a deficit that would be covered by the commission's multi-million dollar reserve fund. "The Commission has been carrying a very multi-million dollar balance for a few years, saving up funds for projects that kind of fall into that tourism-related facility category," Sundin explained. Ke…
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### Meeting Overview The Bellingham Tourism Commission met on September 23, 2025, to review the 2026 budget proposal and hear presentations from three major funding recipients. The main focus was a detailed presentation on a proposed $450,000 waterfront skate park project that would be located under the Rotary Street Bridge. ### Key Terms and Concepts **Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC):** A state-mandated committee that makes formal budget recommendations to City Council for lodging tax funds. It's composed of tourism commissioners with required representation from the hotel industry. **Tourism-Related Facility:** A capital project or venue that serves both residents and visitors, eligible for direct lodging tax funding without going through the competitive grant process. **Out-of-Area Visitors:** Visitors from 50+ miles away from Bellingham, a key metric for measuring tourism success and justifying lodging tax expenditures. **Northwest Skate Collective:** A local organization advocating for and organizing the proposed waterfront skate park project. **Grindline Skate Parks:** A professional skate park design company with over 350 parks worldwide, hired to design the proposed Bellingham facility. **DIY Skate Park:** The current informal skating area under the Rotary Street Bridge that would be transformed into a professional facility. **World-Class Facility:** A skate park designed to attract visitors nationally and internationally, similar to facilities that host X Games and Olympic-level competitions. **Economic Impact Study:** Research being conducted by Western Washington University to quantify the Whatcom Museum's financial contribution to the local economy. ### Key People at This Meeting | Name | Role / Affiliation | |---|---| | Peter Frazier | Tourism Commission Chair, former hotel owner | | Mayor Kim Lund | Bellingham Mayor, skate park advocate | | Tara Sundin | City Planning & Community Development staff | | Taylor Littrell | City Tourism Development Specialist | | James Clindensen | Grindline Skate Parks designer | | Colin Whalen | Northwest Skate Collective member | | Nina Aguilar | 18-year-old Olympic skateboarding competitor | | John Aguilar | Nina's father, representing skate families | | Lauren O'Grady | Mount Baker Theater Marketing Director | …
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Economic Development Parks & Recreation Government Operations City Of Bellingham Downtown Bellingham Partnership Grindline Skate Parks Ltac Mount Baker Theater Northwest Skate Collective Tourism Commission Visit Bellingham Western Washington University Whatcom Museum Craig Jewell Dylan Deane Boyle John Aguilar Kevin Coleman Kim Lund Maria Coltharp Mark Blake Matt Lesinski Peter Frazier Sara Holliday Stephanie Morrell Tara Sundin Taylor Littrell Budget Finance Canadian Relations Cultural Tourism Downtown Development Economic Development Grants Funding Infrastructure Investment Marketing Promotion Parks Recreation Performance Metrics Revenue Projections Sports Recreation Tourism Policy Visitor Experience