Where will Billy Frank Jr. statue be at WA Capitol? There’s a debate
Discussions of where to place a large bronze statue in the state Capitol building depicting Billy Frank Jr., the Nisqually Tribal leader and Indian treaty rights activist, continued Thursday.
Last November, the State Capitol and Capitol Campus Design Advisory committees talked about potential placement options for the commemorative piece. They heard additional possibilities at their May 7 joint meeting, plus cost estimates.
At issue: the initial prospect of setting the Frank statue in the same space as the current statue of Marcus Whitman, a Protestant missionary and pioneer of the Pacific Northwest. Some view Whitman’s actions as destructive and imperialistic, The Associated Press reported in 2021.
During the November meeting, committee members mulled putting Frank in the same room — the Legislative Building’s foyer — as Whitman.
Lt. Gov. Denny Heck has noted that that wouldn’t sit well with the Frank family. Some lawmakers have also opposed another idea to remove Whitman’s figure from the building altogether.
One expensive option would be to send the Whitman piece outside to the South Portico so that Frank’s statue could rest in the north vestibule. But the outdoors component has raised concerns about possible graffiti or vandalism.
On Thursday, committee members heard additional choices.
One would be to install Frank’s statue outside the central entry door to the Capitol building’s State Reception Room on the third floor. Or, perhaps, placing it inside that room, which is closed to the public unless there’s a guided tour or special event.
Kimberly Sockle with the Department of Enterprise Services noted Thursday that certain choices came with a caveat: the need for structural reinforcements that would require destructive work to the floor, or for setting an additional platform beneath the Frank statue to help disperse its weight.
Or, the committees heard, Whitman’s statue could move from its current home to make way for Frank’s — with the former placed outside the Senate Dining Room instead.
Costs for the additional options ranged from more than $178,700 — parking Whitman in front of the dining room — to nearly $238,000, which would place Frank’s statue before the State Reception Room’s central window.
Appropriations for the location project total $335,000, per an accompanying slideshow presentation.
July 23 is the next joint committee meeting to approve the statues’ location. September 2026 marks the earliest possible installation date, with the latest desirable date in February 2027.
This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 11:00 AM.
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