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From: Caroline Chapman <carolinekchapman@gmail.com>
To: mayorcouncil@redmond.gov
Subject: Community Arts Groups to Lease OFH?
Date: 2025-03-25 09:43:12-10:00

External Email Warning! Use caution before clicking links or opening attachments.





Dear Councilmembers & Mayor Birney,




I am emailing not as a former Parks Planning Manager, but as a Redmond resident who has benefited from the Old Firehouse Teen Center.




As you consider the building’s future, I urge you to consider leasing it to an arts and music nonprofit or other group that can continue making this a beloved hub for the community. This would preserve the OFH’s vital role while allowing the City of Redmond Parks Department to operate teen programs in spaces that better fit their needs.




A Community Land Trust model could be a viable solution—keeping the City’s ownership of the property while providing a lease to a nonprofit to run community-based programs. This approach offers several advantages:

*	Expanded fundraising and volunteer opportunities unavailable to the City would be available to a non-profit.
*	Nonprofits may have flexible facility standards that better align with the building’s current condition.
*	Alignment with the PARCC Plan, which supports partnerships to enhance and expand city services.
*	Additional recreational and arts programming available to community members provided outside of the City Parks & Recreation.




Additionally, the City could explore Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) as a cost-effective way to establish a new teen center. One downtown building under construction has 10,000 square feet of dedicated community space they built in exchange for density bonuses—demonstrating a proven path forward (for reference, the OFH is 7,900sq ft). POPS could allow for faster, more affordable development of a dedicated teen space while avoiding a controversial demolition of the OFH and costly construction of an entirely new facility.




As teens face mental health challenges and social isolation, it's more important than ever to ensure we preserve the places in our community that provide a safe space for connection, creativity and belonging. 




I would commit to help identify or establish a nonprofit to continue arts and music programming at the Old Firehouse if this is a path the Council would like to take. 




Let’s work together on a solution that benefits everyone,




Caroline Chapman

Former Youth Advocate for the Redmond Youth Partnership (1999-2001) & current resident





-- 


Caroline Chapman
425.652.0394
