Begin at Pugnetti Park....

Which is located at the corner of 21st and Pacific, across the street from the 1950 Pacific Avenue SOTA building. Watch out though: the drivers turning off the bridge can sometimes get a little antzy. Just at this intersection. Eye contact is encouraged.

Donald A. Pugnetti was the former editor of the Tacoma News Tribune. In 1962, he received the Thomas L. Stokes Memorial Award for his work in the campaign to gain governmental approval to convert waste steam from Handford nuclear reservations nuclear plants into electricity. He also campaigned for the building of a freeway link between Interstate 5 and downtown Tacoma. Although he lived to see that the plans for the freeway link were being carried out, he tragically died of cancer before it was actually completed. During the fall of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, the Occupy Tacoma Movement made camp in Pugnetti Park, effectively shutting it down for approximately four months. Protesters set up tents and signs and settled down for a cold winter. On February 26th 2012, the group decided, as a whole, to vacate the park. After a period of several weeks, the tents were taken down and the signs plucked from the earth. The trash was collected, and the grass that had gone white underneath the tents grew back again.

Now Then, Where Are We Going?

Keep in mind: -Rows precede columns -The next destination is left of the plaque Good luck.

The cipher is borne of the plaque at the forefront of the park: (2,6) (3,9) (4,4) (2,5) (5,10) (2,6) (3,2) (2,13) (3,10) (5,3) (1,6) (4,4) (5,23)

99%

Welcome to Destination II
You made it. Good. This destination, the Glass Museum, is a very popular locale for TSOTA students. Students eat their lunches on the glass bridge, and sometimes, people can be found doing yoga in the amphitheatre. Who knows?

Photo courtesy of Museum of Glass The Museum of Glass was an effort first brought forth by the once president of University of Puget Sound, Dr. Philip M. Phipps. The building itself was designed by the Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, who was known for his modernist concrete structures, and his sense of the futuristic. The big cone shaped building that you see is where glass sculptures are blown in an enormous furnace that reaches 2,400 degrees Celsius. The glass work on the bridge was designed by Dale Chihuly, some of it part of his venetian series. If you step out of the museum, youll be facing two crosswalks. If you cross those crosswalks, youll find yourself at the bottom of some stairs. If you follow the stairs all the way to the top, you find two crosswalks. If you take the one on the right, you can follow that steeply inclining sidewalk until you hit Tacoma Ave, where across the street you will find the 1818 location of TSOTA. Follow is a nice way of saying Clamber up, while seeing your life flashing in front of your eyes, as you heave desperately toward your destination. Just so youre aware.

Some thing you should know..

Youre going to want to find a reflective surface. Dont use the reflecting pools though. That wont work. The doors near the Museum Plaza North are pretty shiny though.

Head straight out of the Museum of Glass, the way you entered, and turn right onto Pacific Ave. You should see the Tacoma Art Museum in the distance. Follow Pacific for quite awhile. Your destination will be at the end of it.

kraP snameriF

Destination III
Firemans Park is sleepy now. The view is nice, and there are benches where you can eat lunch with your friends if they arent waterlogged. But Firemans Park is also the relic of a forgotten growth of the city. That totem pole, the one you pass when you first enter the park, it was commissioned in 1903 to be built by the Indians of the Sitka Area, because Tacoma was competing with Seattle. In a way, they were in competition to see who could wield the biggest stick. They were fighting against each other for prominence in the Pacific Northwest. While it seems obvious now who was the victor, at one time, things were less certain. The man holding the saw, a piece called Clearing the Way is somewhat representative of the economic growth of Tacoma. The timber industry was crucial to the development of the city. So while Firemans Park may be soporific now (In fact, its a favorite sleeping spot of the homeless) underneath its drowsy exterior is a bastion of defiant progress.

The eyes have it...

How many permanent pairs of peepers (on the sculptures, that is) do you think you can find in Firemans Park? Would you be willing to bet your next destination on it? When you think youve got the right answer, head to the back of the park (past the statue of the man with the saw and start climbing up the hill. Once you hit pacific, cross the street and turn left. Youll bump into the next destination soon.

Tacoma Public Library

Ted Brown

Link Station

wright Park

Tullys

Pantages Theatre

Hal of a Sub

Antique Sandwich Shop

Antique District

Tacoma Art Museum

United Way Offices

The Spanish Steps

Destination IV
The Scalinata di Spagna, are heavy hitters in the world of steps. There are entire hotels devoted to them. Tourist groups of Rome stop by to snap pictures and eat street food almost every day. In 1915, along with the Elks Lodge, Tacoma decided to build steps influenced by the design of Scalinata di Spagna. They would be called the Spanish Steps. For awhile, the newly constructed steps were the sites of wedding photos, of family portraits and of graduation celebrations. As time went on, however, the steps began to decline. Graffiti was tattooed onto the banisters. Cigarette butts were piled into little mounds in the decorative vases which garnished the landings. Finally in 2005, after steps were being taken to clean up the Spanish Steps, a stolen vehicle was driven down them, destroying structures left and right. Fortunately in 2011, the Spanish Steps were given a makeover, or in the lingo of the city planners, rehabilitated

The plaques at the top and the bottom are identical by the way...

Huh. Thats really interesting. Im going to let you figure out this clue on your own. I have faith in you. Yeah. But you should be aware of this: 1, 6, 4, 10, 9, 7, 8, 2, 5, 3 That is all. See you at the next destination.

Destination V
In 2008, the Garages, now established and legal graffiti spaces on Broadway, were in serious trouble. Due to complaints, the City of Tacoma ordered that the parking bays be painted over and, in effect, the vital, ever changing art that had flourished there for years, be quelled. Fortunately, the Garages had advocates, and not just among the artists who took advantage of the space. The Safe and Clean Team of Tacoma, the Fab 5 and Lorig and Associates, the property owners, all worked to ensure that the garages would continue to be a place where art can gain exposure and a community of artists can grow.

Glass Museum

Tacoma News Tribune

The Grand Theatre

Lets move on, shall we?

In the Garage closest to your last destination, the Spanish Steps, you will find a series of poles, reaching down from the ceilings. Venture deeper into the garage, and you will find they come in varying sizes. Find the smallest. Cut out this strip and wind it around the pole until the strip is taut. Where the pointer has landed will indicate where your next clue can be found. In order to reach this destination, exit the garages, and head left down Broadway. When you come to the intersection, cross and then head up 9th Street.

The Rialto Piper Morley Mellinger Funeral Home

Wright Park

Tacoma Dome Following Broadway, past the big yellow building, would eventually lead you to the Ted Brown Building. Just in case.

Ruston Way

Frisco Freeze

Stadium Highschool

Destination VI
The Rialto was built in 1918 as the the ultimate photoplay house. Designed by the architect Roland E. Borhek the Rialto enjoyed prosperity and culture in its time, though it eventually hit a down-spiral, unable to recover from disrepair and neglect until the 1990s, when the city and the Broadway Theater District decided to renovate and renew the old theatre. Now concerts are enjoyed by audiences old and young. The Rialto also contributes to the history of TSOTA in part: for many years, the Rialto stage was witness to TSOTA showcases.

Step one is going to be finding the two masks on display out side the Rialto. Then, examining the art and their accompanying plaques, you might want to keep something in mind: We read lines of text horizontally, but letters are stretched vertically. Once you have cracked the code, the best way to get to your destination is to head up market, turn right until you hit 11th and then head up the hill until you hit Tacoma Ave. Youll be able to see your destination from that intersection.

Understanding the Clue:

Destination VII
Welcome to the Tacoma Public Library. This is an excellent resource for TSOTA students that often goes unused. There are massive databases that can be accessed, permitted students have a Tacoma Library card. There is also homework help available. Just ask!Humanities classes are occasionally held up here, and sometimes an MPG will make a trek up the hill. At the library, one can get homework help from librarians, and access the enormous online databases housed there. The library had its beginnings in the living room of a Ms. Grace Moore, who, after leaving her native San Francisco, pined after easy access to books. Ladies in the community began to donate books, and for 25 cents, one could become a member of the Mercantile Library of Tacoma. Eventually the books found a new home in the City Hall. In 1903, a new library was built and dedicated. The building that you are now standing in was dedicated much later, after much debate and confusion and frustration, in 1952.

Im looking for...

Youre looking for the encyclopedias, first and foremost. Once you find them, you should poke around for Encyclopedia Americana. Try volume 29, on page 166. Take a peek at the fourth entry. At that point, you should exit the library and head down 11th street. As Mapquest might put it, your destination will be on the left. And keep your eyes up. Good luck.

Keep in Mind
Tacoma Avenue might seem like a whole lot of fun. But there is where you are wrong, my friend. Tacoma Avenue is not somewhere you should hang out. It is not an advised way to get to 1818. Unless youre going to the library, or you absolutely need to be here, you should steer clear. And if you do end up here, bring a buddy, okay?

Your Final Destination..

And so it ends upon your arrival at the old Woolworths building. Home is just down the street. Follow Broadway past the building-block fountain, and you will stumble upon the Ted Brown Building. Keep an eye out for the Woolworths building. Art installations are put up periodically. They are always interesting, and at times, incomprehensible. I hope you have enjoyed this little expedition through Tacoma. I certainly have. If you can, you should go document your experience on the blog. Pictures, diary entries, interpretive dance, whatever. Go crazy. But be safe. And enjoy your time in this city and at TSOTA.

Fin.