The Port of Seattle has approved $32.6 million to transform the historic Ship Supply Building at Fishermen’s Terminal into a “Maritime Innovation Center.”
The Port will build the new Maritime Innovation Center (MInC) in accordance with Living Building Challenge certifications—it will become the fourth building in Seattle built to those standards.
According to a press release from the Port, the center will aim to “attract the attention of global industry leaders to Puget Sound, and demonstrate the connection between innovative technologies and the maritime industry.”
“The transformation of the Port’s oldest building into a world-class center is a reflection of the Port’s commitment to investing in innovation so that the maritime industry and marine environment will thrive for generations to come,” Port of Seattle Commissioner Fred Felleman said in a statement.
“The Maritime Innovation Center will inspire collaboration between entrepreneurs, investors, and workers that will grow our region’s blue-green economy by drawing on our heritage to create living wage careers of the future.”
The Maritime Innovation Center will become a hub for incubator and accelerator programs while also supporting workforce development programs to foster job growth in maritime industries.
The Port is also putting funding into making Fishermen’s Terminal easier to navigate and more educational for visitors. There will be new wayfinding and site signage, interpretive signage, and landscaping to “balance the Port objectives of inviting the public to explore Fishermen’s Terminal and appreciating the value of the working waterfront.”
Public historian Sharon Boswell developed the new interpretive signage in collaboration with Native consultant Headwater People, members of the local fisher community, and local public history experts. The Port says “the result will tell the history of Fishermen’s Terminal through a wider array of individual voices, communities, and moments.”
The Port expects to begin construction on the new building by the second quarter of 2024 and be completed by the end of 2025.
Renderings by the Port of Seattle
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