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Stakeholder group and council subcommittee back rebuilding Old Firehouse Teen Center at same downtown site
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Summary
After months of stakeholder meetings, Redmond staff and a council subcommittee recommended expeditiously rebuilding the Old Firehouse Teen Center at its existing downtown location, emphasizing a teen‑centered process and retention of music and drop‑in space; council agreed to place a draft direction on next week’s consent agenda for final wording and vote.
Council President Kritzer opened discussion of the Old Firehouse Teen Center with a summary from Parks and Recreation staff and stakeholders that the facility’s legacy and location are critical to continued teen access.
Loreen Hamilton, Parks and Recreation Director, told the council the stakeholder group — made up of teens, service providers, alumni and parents — met August through October and that the majority recommended rebuilding the teen center at its current site to preserve walkability, transit access and the venue’s music legacy. "The majority of the stakeholder group recommends rebuilding the teen center at its current location," Hamilton said.
The council subcommittee that attended the stakeholder meetings proposed language directing staff to "expediently rebuild the teen center on the same location with music space to continue the Old Firehouse legacy" and to ensure the design process is teen‑centered. Council President Kritzer read the proposed direction aloud and said she would post the exact draft language to the meeting chat and work with leadership to place the item on next week’s consent agenda for council action.
Members of the council supported the recommendation but pressed for clearer guarantees around preserving artifacts and the teen voice in design. Councilmember Stewart asked how staff plan to preserve posters and memorabilia; Hamilton said staff have discussed high‑resolution photographic records and coordination with the Redmond Historical Society and would include teens and designers in decisions about which artifacts to display. "There are ideas for how to honor the OFH legacy in a new showroom and to reach out to bands and alumni to create a commemorative montage," Hamilton said.
Councilmember Fields praised the outcome while noting process shortcomings earlier in engagement: a small number of vocal teens did not participate in the final recommendation, and rebuilding the site had been central to the group’s ability to reach consensus. Several councilmembers urged that the recommendation avoid overly prescriptive language so the teen participants can shape final design priorities, including music programming and a recording studio.
Next steps: staff said a potential decision point would be placed on the Nov. 18 consent agenda so council can vote on proposed direction. The council asked staff to include plans for artifact preservation, an explicit commitment to retain drop‑in teen space and steps to ensure continued stakeholder engagement, especially for teens who declined to participate in the final stakeholder vote.
