Greeting supporters of protecting Volunteer Park from SAAM expansion, The SAAM will be closing the end of the month and SAM has responded to the Seattle Park Superintendent’s “Pause Letter” and we responded to their letter. You can read both letters at: https://thinkagainsaam.org/pvp-response-letter/. This is a crucial time for more letter writing and we ask for your support. Please visit: https://thinkagainsaam.org/action-center/ to send the below letter and the email addresses to all the government officials it should go to. Thank you for supporting and protecting our beautiful Volunteer Park. And please continue to share our petition with others. Protect Volunteer Park team www.protectvolunteerpark.org www.thinkagainsaam.org (Sample Letter) Dear Government Official, We ask that the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation halt the proposed plan to expand the Asian Art Museum into precious public open space in historic Volunteer Park. Additionally, we ask for a reassessment of the agreement between the City and Seattle Art Museum (SAM), in light of modern equity standards, particularly regarding the number of free admission days offered to the public. The Asian Art Museum building needs renovations for seismic safety and HVAC to preserve the building and the museum collections. A $9 million renovation project was offered to the public, and accepted, in the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy. This proposal did not include any expansion. Since that time, and without a suitable public process, the City has appointed SAM as agent to design an expansion plan, and changed the City’s proposed contribution from $9 million to $19 million (in addition to $2 million provided for the design). This is a “bait and switch” which breaks trust with the voters who approved a different project. Expanding the building into the park is a direct contradiction of the theme of the 2008 levy which was for “Parks and Green Spaces”. We say “without a suitable public process” because Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation has not followed its own Public Involvement Policy, which requires “early and thorough notification of proposals and projects” and “When possible, to invite the community’s ideas … rather than to present a list of options or a proposed design”. Concluding, we feel this expansion plan must be rejected, and we also suggest a reevaluation of the terms of SAM’s use of the Asian Art Museum building, to be consistent with the terms Seattle offers other cultural organizations, especially those originating from economically disadvantaged or underserved communities. Sincerely, (your name address and phone number)