What is…

Open the Arch

A proposal by the Dispatch to open the convention center's original building to the public on days with no event.

Updated November 9, 2026.

What is it?

Open the Arch is a proposal by the Convention City Dispatch. It is published on the Seattle Commons, which the Dispatch's founding editor writes. The proposal asks that the Arch, the convention center's original building, be open to the public on days with no event, with the people who live nearby having a say in what happens inside.

What does it propose?

In the proposal's words: "A public body owns the Arch. Open it when it is not in use." It describes the Arch as owned by the Washington State Convention Center Public Facilities District, standing where Downtown, Capitol Hill, First Hill and Denny Triangle meet. "The proposal: on a day with no event, open it to the public. Let the people who live nearby use it, and give them a real say in what it is used for."

The proposal calls this "the long game," and says the short game is "to find out who else wants it." It invites readers to write in and say what they would use an empty day for, such as a rehearsal, a class, a meeting or a market.

What does it leave open?

It does not claim that the convention center or the District has agreed to anything, and it does not set a date, a price or a program. The page says the convention center is currently writing a Campus Master Plan, and that whether the Arch opens "depends on whether enough of them ask before that plan is done." That is the proposal's own reading of the timing.

What is the Arch?

The convention center's website describes Arch at 705 Pike as "Seattle Convention Center's original building," with 61 meeting rooms, four ballrooms and six exhibit halls, adjacent to Freeway Park. The convention center lists its public areas as open daily, 6am to 8pm, as of November 6, 2026. For the building and who runs it, see What is the Seattle Convention Center?.

Where can you read it?

The full proposal, with the event-day counts it relies on and the source for each, is at commons.conventioncityseattle.com.

Sources: Seattle Commons, "Open the Arch" (commons.conventioncityseattle.com, revised October 12, 2026), read November 6, 2026 (every quotation about the proposal); SCC, "SCC Campus" page (seattlecc.com/scc-campus), read November 6, 2026 (the description of the Arch at 705 Pike and its public hours). Every quote above can be checked against them.

Ivan Schneider is the founding editor of the Convention City Dispatch.

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Related

The Seattle Convention CenterThe convention center downtown. Its buildings, who runs it, and how it is paid for. The SummitThe Seattle Convention Center's addition on Pine Street, open since January 2023. Arch at 705 PikeThe Seattle Convention Center's original building, and the street address it uses. Arch at 800 PikeThe Seattle Convention Center's business meeting and event venue, across Pike Street from the Arch at 705 Pike. C-STARThe convention center's storefront safety hub at 810 Pike. What it is, what it is for, who runs it, and when you can go. 9th AvenueTwo things go by the name. The street between Pike and Pine, and the 9th Avenue Market, the shops and restaurants of the convention center's Summit. The master planThe Seattle Convention Center's campus master plan, as shown on the slides at the October 27, 2026 board meeting. The boardThe nine directors who govern the Seattle Convention Center. The PFDThe public agency that owns and runs the Seattle Convention Center. Visit SeattleThe destination marketing organization for Seattle and King County. What it is, how it is paid for, and its contract with the convention center.