Petition Seeks to ‘Save’ Kennewick Museum From Demolition

The historic Keewaydin Museum opened in 1982, now it’s potentially part of some sweeping downtown Kennewick renovation plans.

  Local Petition Seeks to Spare Museum From Possible Demolition

The Museum, located at 205 West Keewaydin Drive in downtown Kennewick, has housed a wide variety of local, native American, and other historical exhibits and items and draws a lot of visitors, especially students.

   The City has announced they are looking at long-term plans to replace the aging Serier Public Pool, and find a way to expand City Hall.  The facility is said to be too small to accomodate the needs of the growing city.

Some of the options include remodeling and expanding their current site, which is across from the Kennewick Police Station,  or building a larger structure.  One of the potential options would be putting the new Hall where the museum now sits. This plan would include a 500 square-foot ‘mini’ museum inside.

  Supporters Say That’s Not a Viable Option

But staff and supporters of the museum say that option would not allow for all their displays and items to be included. It would require significant cutbacks and basically render the museum as useless. The current museum is 9,000 square feet.

A Petition has been created at Change.org to preserve the facility from future City expansion plans, as of Wednesday June 3, 578 persons have signed.

 Does the Museum ‘Own’ the Building?

The Museum leases space from the City of Kennewick, the current lease is set to expire in 2031.  City Officials will be revisiting the 3 proposals for what to do down the road when they meet again June 23rd.  Officials stress this is a long-term process, and no immediate or ‘snap’ decisions will be made.