The Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE) has announced a $6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the completion of a new 2,000-seat performing arts facility in Bellevue.

With this gift, the Campaign For PACE has received $30 million in contributions toward a capital and endowment campaign goal of $160 million.

“We are very appreciative of this grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” says Karen Lytle, co-chair of the Campaign For PACE along with her husband, Chuck Lytle, and Betty and Kemper Freeman, Jr.

“The growth experienced in this region has led to a transformation of the Eastside into a thriving and diverse area with its own distinct identity,” Lytle added.

“PACE will be the centerpiece of an increasingly vibrant cultural life, creating a focal point and sense of identity – inviting an even greater participation in the practice and enjoyment of the arts.”

A premier center for the performing arts, PACE will offer a performance season of nationally and internationally celebrated artists and provide a top-quality venue for established Seattle and Eastside groups and emerging regional artists.

Pace is located in downtown Bellevue on the corner of Northeast 10th Street and 106th Avenue Northeast and is scheduled to open in 2010.

The mission of the center is to enrich Eastside cultural life with a wide diversity of live entertainment, arts, and education.

“There is a growing understanding that the arts play an important role in developing healthy communities.” said John Haynes, executive director and CEO of PACE.

“They are a means to enhance our sense of place and identity as a community, to support our young people, to educate and entertain, and to attract the best and brightest to our schools, businesses, and civic life,” Haynes added.

“The addition of PACE will provide economic, educational, and cultural advantages that will help to enrich the Eastside’s quality of life and elevate its reputation as one of the most desirable areas of the country in which to live and work.”

For more information on PACE, contact Cheryl Engstrom at 425-487-0682.