Port of Tacoma & Tacoma Public Schools Break Ground on Maritime Center

The Port of Tacoma and Tacoma Public Schools broke ground Wednesday, January 8th on a 20-acre parcel as the next phase in the construction of a Port Maritime Center. The project will include both a new port business and a skills center to be called Maritime/253. Built on port-owned land, located across from downtown Tacoma, the project is a joint project between The Port of Tacoma and the Tacoma Public School District. Each entity will pay for their own building with the school district contributing to the cost of the site development.
“Maritime|253 will provide career and technical education to high-school juniors and seniors from across Pierce County, bringing opportunities to more members of the community and helping fill a growing need for workers in the trades and the maritime industry,” said a project spokesperson.
Invoking a maritime theme, the port business center will be a 60,000-square-foot, 2½-story building providing space for commission meetings and workspace for employees of the Port of Tacoma and The Northwest Seaport Alliance. The building is expected to include solar panels and earn the equivalent of LEED Silver certification. Both buildings in the project were designed by TCF Architecture and will be built by BNBuilders.