Is there anything uglier in Western Washington than the Tacoma Dome? The answer is obviously no.

If only the City of Tacoma had come to its senses three decades ago ago and signed off on Andy Warhol’s wondrously bold proposal to adorn the roof of the indoor arena with a supersized daisy. As Seattle Weekly’s Brian Miller wrote in story reprising the city’s decision to reject the art installation, “As designed, Warhol’s big daisy would’ve served a double purpose, as artwork and an advertisement for himself. It was he who would be lending his fame to the dome; he’d be doing Tacoma a favor, and he knew it.”

Now, on the 30th anniversary of a grand favor by one of the nation’s most famous artists spurned, the the city, which owns and operates the $44 million eyesore – the world’s largest arena with a wooden dome – is seriously contemplating selling the naming rights to the old beast.

Any suggestions?

“People are pretty realistic about this. They know we need to find alternative sources of income,” Tacoma’s public assembly facilities director Kim Bedier tells the Weekly.

On Monday, as the

Tacoma News-Tribune reports

, the city began soliciting bids for “services for marketing, sale of naming rights, advertising and sponsorships” for both the Tacoma Dome and the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center.

In other words, every square inch of the 152-foot tall Dome could be named after a sponsor – concourse signage, seats, food booths, and who knows, maybe even restrooms – not just the overall name of the city’s aging landmark. “We are open to anything,” Bedier says.

Bedier notes that she has no idea how much the city can expect to fetch by hawking the Tacoma Dome name. “That’s why right now we are soliciting bids to explore this, so they can tell us how much it might be worth to sell the naming rights.

This isn’t the first time Tacoma played with notion of selling the Dome’s naming rights. In 2003, the city came close to inking a pact with Comcast for up to $7 million in cash and advertising over ten years, but the City Council quashed the deal amid public outcry, and the cable TV giant withdrew its offer.

Bedier says the mayor and council and mayor are on board this time around, however tentatively. As council member Anders Ibsen writes in an e-mail to us, “I will be approaching this very cautiously. While I am very much aware of the need to explore budget options in this time of scarce resources, it’s also imperative that we not do so at the price of our civic identity and values. No one wants a Walmart Dome.

So far, no community protest have surfaced over the proposal.

Jokingly, Beider says, “I don’t see anyone protesting outside my window at the moment.