Tax Limits Steer Seattle to $1.5 Billion Space Needle Arts Bond

Seattle’s plan to overhaul the cultural campus around the Space Needle is colliding with a basic dilemma: The city is running out of legal room to raise taxes.

That’s why Mayor Katie Wilson is weighing whether to ask voters to approve a $1.5 billion bond to help revamp Seattle Center, the complex north of downtown that houses opera, ballet, the Pacific Science Center, the Museum of Pop Culture and the Chihuly Garden & Glass museum. The proposal was put together by a coalition of civic and arts groups.

Katie Wilson

Photographer: Lindsey Wasson/AP Photo

The timing is difficult for Seattle. Wilson came into office after ...