Video: Art at the sewer

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WOODINVILLE, Wash. - When it opens in two years, the new Brightwater plant near Woodinville will do a lot more than treat sewage. It will be a place for meetings, educational tours and even special events.

"This could be so beautiful that people could potentially use it as a site for weddings," said Annie Kolb-Nelson of King County Wastewater Treatment.

To show off Brightwater and help it blend into its surroundings, the county is spending $4.3 million on art at the site.

A million dollars of the art will be on display Brightwater's Environmental Education and Community Center.

King County could only show us rough concept sketches of the art.

"These will all be moving screens of images... there will be one in the wall," said Cath Brunner of 4Culture, the county's public art agency.

That interactive media wall is costing $250,000. It sounds like the Taj Mahal of sewage treatment plants. There's a $65,000 chandelier, a $260,000 glass art wall and a $120,000 downspout. Hundreds of thousands more will go for art at the plant entry and plaza.

Another $100,000 worth of art will be scattered throughout 43 acres of salmon habitat and reforested land.

"We've put in a trail system... they'll be educational signage... stops along the way," said Brightwater Architectural Design Manager, Michael Popiwny.

It's not a new concept. The KING 5 Investigators found that King County has spent close to $1 million for art at sewage pump stations in recent years.

But, how much does it get seen?

This Salish art mural and gate have been part of the West Seattle pump station since 1988.

"Never noticed it," said Wendy Hughes-Jelen, who who has lived in Seattle for more than a decade and often walks by the pump station.

"I've just occasionally glanced at it, but it's better than nothing," said Seatle resident Evan Pittman.

So what does that tell you?

"Maybe it's a bad location for public art," said Hughes-Jelen.

On Elliott Bay, a sewer overflow project boasts a stainless steel swale & fences costing more than $200,000.

"It's interesting... it says something like ha la loo loo loo... wondering what that's about... don't know what that means," said Seattle resident Hanna Tweedy.

King County paid $64,000 for a rain drain, a building sculpture on the side of the North Creek Sewage Pump Station in Bothell.

"It would make more sense to be in public parks where people can enjoy if for sure," said Patty McNeill, who works nearby, but has never noticed the sculpture.

But 4Culture says it puts the art where the community wants it, and in the case of Brightwater, that's at the sewage treatment plant.

We asked Brunner if it make sense during our tight economic times to spend $4.3 million on art at a sewage treatment plant.

She said, "Yes, public art is a really small investment for a really big return."

In the end, King County says this sewage treatment plant won't stink and it won't be ugly. In fact, in part due to millions of dollars worth of art, it will be more attractive than what it replaced - a soup factory and an auto wrecking yard.