Tacoma has been given a bum rap for far too long. First off, it’s the “Tac” in Sea-Tac Airport, not exactly top billing. And for many years Tacoma was referred to as the “Industrial Stepsister of Seattle,” which would give any city an inferiority complex. But worst of all, Tacoma has been widely known for its unwelcome odor — commonly referred to as The Aroma of Tacoma.

I’m sure that the fine folks who claim this port city as their hometown cringe whenever they hear this not-so-sweet-smelling description of their burg.

Well, fresh winds are blowing into Washington’s second largest city. As one Tacoma booster said to me last week at the media preview of the new Museum of Glass, “Come smell us now!” So I did.

First off, I noticed no strange aroma in Tacoma during my two-day stay. This is due in large part to Simpson Timber, which has spent millions of dollars on state-of-the-art technology to decrease those stinky sulfurous discharges spewing out of its Tacoma Kraft Mill. According to Simpson’s Web site, it has removed 90 percent of odorous omissions from its pulp mill. Thank you, Bart & Company!

Secondly, downtown Tacoma’s on a rip roarin’ roll, with more than two dozen projects on the drawing boards in the next couple of years. Leading the way is the Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art

(www.museumofglass.org), making its $63 million public debut on July 6.

So how is it?

Stunning — and that’s before you even go through the doors. Designed by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, the earth-colored structure ascends in a series of platforms from the banks of the Thea Foss Waterway to a rooftop plaza, with surprises around every corner.

Unlike fellow-Canadian architect Frank Gehry’s Experience Music Project in Seattle, there is nothing globby or blobby about Erickson’s museum. Looming like a landed spacecraft is a 90-foot-tall cone wrapped in stainless steel, which will undoubtedly become the poster child of the museum. Similar in style to Waterman Mill’s “wigwam burner” on Langley Road, Tacoma’s new teepee was inspired by the wood burners of sawmills that once dotted the region. And not only is the tilted cone visually appealing, it’s functional. It houses the Hot Shop Amphitheater, where visitors can watch resident glass artists at work.

Before heading into the museum, spend some time outside; it’s my favorite part of the new MOG (and it’s free!). The public installations include Mildred Howard’s “Blackbird in a Red Sky,” a red “house” rising above a pool of floating red apples. Environmental sculptor Patrick Dougherty’s “Call of the Wild, 2002” is an installation of three larger-than-landscape sculptures woven entirely from twigs, branches and tree saplings (you can even walk inside them). Seattle artist Buster Simpson’s “Incidence, 2002” is a stunning tempered glass and stainless steel structure in a rooftop reflecting pool, with the non-manmade Mount Rainier holding court in the background.

But by favorite feature and the centerpiece and gathering place of the MOG is Howard Ben Tre’s “Water Forest,” 20 bronze and glass towers standing in concentric rings around a circular granite bench. Each tower is its own receptacle; filling with water and overflowing to cascade down the outside of each tower and refilling again. The towers’ water is controlled to reflect the ebb and flow of the tide in Tacoma’s surrounding waterfront. At night, fiber optics illuminate the urban forest. It’s interactive, ala Seattle Center’s International Fountain — but without the music.

So how can there be a glass museum in Tacoma without artist and Tacoma native Dale Chihuly? There can’t.

The Chihuly Bridge of Glass was nine years in the making, and it’s Chihuly’s gift to the city. The bridge is a collaborative effort between Chihuly and architect Arthur Andersson of Austin, Texas and although not complete when I walked through, it’s definitely cool.

The 500-foot-long pedestrian overpass crosses Interstate 705 and will link the MOG to the Washington State History Museum and Tacoma’s Union Station. Three permanent installations make up the Bridge of Glass: the Seaform Pavilion, a ceiling of multicolored glass forms created by Chihuly; the Venetian Wall, with approximately 109 Chihuly vessels; and the Crystal Towers, two Windex-blue sculptures rising more than 30 feet above the bridge deck (made of Polyvitro, not glass).

“The bridge will be the gateway that welcomes people to Tacoma,” said Chihuly. “We wanted something unique in the world, something that is full of color and offers a joyous experience to passersby both night and day.”

The Museum of Glass and the Chihuly Bridge of Glass are Tacoma’s newest aromas — and they smell just fine.

Go sniff them out sometime.

Sue Frause can be reached by e-mail at skfrause@whidbey.com.