Furniture is coming to Tollefson Plaza.

Tacoma city officials are pressing ahead with a four-phased plan aimed at bringing life to the moribund downtown open space.

Phase 1 includes placing some loose tables and chairs throughout the plaza, City Manager Eric Anderson told council members earlier this month at a meeting of the Economic Development Committee.

Officials from the city and the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce hope to order the furniture in the couple of weeks and have the items in the plaza this spring, said Chelsea Levy, metropolitan development manager for the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce.

The city is contracting with the chamber for operations and minor maintenance of the plaza.

Planters and garbage containers should follow soon.

It’s a bit of a risk not securing the tables and chairs, officials acknowledged.

Council members seemed to like the ideas, though Councilman Rick Talbert was curious how the city planned to keep the tables and chairs from "walking off."

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Anderson said officials planned to put them in place and see what happens. Similar efforts have worked in other cities, Anderson said.

Funding has already been appropriated, but money for the other three phases has not been set aside, and it could take years to get to all of them.

The ideas were developed by a planning group that met for two years to discuss both Tollefson Plaza and Century Park, the space across Pacific Avenue near Union Station and the Washington State History Museum.

They range from erecting a main plaza sign and plaques recognizing Tacoma's "unsung heroes" from the past to improving the existing water feature and placing a canopy over part of the plaza.

The presence of tables, chairs and garbage cans is expected to make the space a more attractive place to gather for lunch.

Planters will be used to provide some separation from Pacific Avenue, Anderson said. Other parts of Phase 1 could include a main plaza sign and the placing of flag poles on the hill west of the existing water feature.

Another element in Phase 1 -- a welcome figure -- is already in progress. The 20-foot figure is expected to be completed this spring and the city is working with officials from the Puyallup Tribe to plan a traditional "pole raising" ceremony.

The planning group built on ideas brought to the city by Lars Gemzoe, a Danish architect and lecturer who visited Tacoma last year.

The group initially wanted to make improvements to the plaza's water feature as part of the Phase 1 improvements, but decided to move it to Phase 2 after city officials said it would cost about $50,000.

Changes to the water feature would be aimed at drawing more attention to it and could include adding rocks to create sound, and adding plants to draw the eye. "It's a beautiful water feature, but it's almost invisible," Anderson said.

Other recommendations for Phase 2 include:
* Donor plaques for Century Park.
* Chinese hat (relocating art work currently in the council chambers.)0
* Save Our Station medallion.
* Minnetonka sculpture. (A miniature version of a historic railroad engine.)
* History path.
* Unsung heroes plaques.

Phase 3 would consist of two street improvements aimed at increasing pedestrian access to Tollefson Plaza:
* Narrowing South 17th Street.
* Building a "bump-out" on Pacific Avenue.

Phase 4

* Erecting a permanent canopy over part of the plaza.
* Building a "green wall" around one end of the plaza.