Save Redmond's Old Firehouse
The City of Redmond announced the closure of the Old Firehouse Teen Center (OFH) at the end of March; a historic rock venue and vital resource to teens for 30 years.
The Old Firehouse is the one truly safe, accessible, and welcoming place for local neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, and at-risk youth to go between home and school.
I’m proud to be supporting this project, mission, and all the hard-working and very dedicated teens fighting to stop this closure and demolition of this vital piece of infrastructure.
Please help them stop this decision by signing and sharing the petition, visiting the Save OFH website, and, if feasible, donating to the cause.
Petition: https://www.change.org/p/save-old-fire-house-teen-center
Website: www.SaveOFH.com
I would like to take a moment to provide some historical information about this building as the Redmond City Council doesn’t appear to care about the city’s history, identity, or culture.
The Old Firehouse is more than just a building. It’s a part of Redmond’s identity. It was built in 1950 when the city’s population was about 570 residents. Out of those 570 residents, 75 of them volunteered their time and materials to build this building for the purpose of acting as the city’s first city hall, police/fire station, and jail. Fast forward a few decades, the YMCA would occupy the space, and in the 90’s, becoming the city’s official teen center, which wasn’t an easy task.
Around 1991, ten city staff members, including former mayor Rosemarie Ives, created a group called the Y-Team, after a proposed levy to help fund teen services program and building was voted down. They held a day-long youth rally talking and asking teens what they wanted. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, they all wanted a safe place just for teens to hang out. Former Mayor Ives made it a priority to provide teens this safe place, and thus the Redmond Old Firehouse Teen Center was born.
She did something that no other mayor has done before. She sat down and actually had a 2-way conversation with the people directly involved.
That’s the history stuff that the city couldn’t care less about.
Let’s talk about the cultural impact this “just a building” has had on the city.
The Old Firehouse played a large role in protesting the infamous Seattle dance ordinance law (aka, the footloose law), something the adult Redmond residents backed. This law was specifically designed to remove teens out of public spaces, hosting music events, etc. God forbid our youth would like to have fun in a safe and welcoming space.
It was the epicenter of the music scene for the Eastside (Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah), from a youth music perspective, that rivaled or even surpassed the Seattle scene. This was the music venue for teens. If you look at the bands that have played at the Old Firehouse over the decades, you’ll start to see the foundations of the Seattle music scene. Band members that would later form nationally recognized bands like Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, The Blood Brothers, and so many more.
If you didn’t have this building and the communities it had created, so many popular bands may never have formed. Friendships, partnerships, relationships, may never have happened.
If the building goes away, so do those communities. This is why it’s so important to keep the Old Firehouse where it is and as it is today.