City parks staff told the Parks and Environmental Sustainability Committee on Sept. 23 that a stakeholder process is underway to produce a community-informed recommendation on the future of the Old Firehouse (OFH) teen center and that staff expects to present a final recommendation to council on Nov. 12 with a potential decision on Nov. 18.

Lindsay Falkenberg, parks planning manager and project manager for the engagement process, said the stakeholder group includes 23 participants drawn from teens, service providers, community organizations, commissioners, parents, city staff and alumni. The group will meet six times; Falkenberg told the committee it has met twice and has four meetings scheduled through October. The group is using a multi-objective decision analysis tool to weigh factors and produce a recommendation on either renovating the existing building or investigating a rebuild. Falkenberg said location is not within the stakeholder group's scope: an "investigate a rebuild" recommendation would prompt further community engagement about location.

Parks Director Lorraine Hamilton told council the building's exterior has condition issues'notably the roof, windows and building envelope'and that winter weather increases the risk of building failure if the council does not decide on preservation steps. "So we are hoping to come to a decision on if we need to make steps to preserve the facility through the winter or, if a demolition will be in order," Hamilton said.

Hamilton described the stakeholder composition in more detail: three city employees are part of the stakeholder group (one facility staff member, one teen services staff and one city employee who is an OFH alum but not parks staff); those listed as "teens" are 18 years old; and the subcommittee asked staff to increase the number of teens on the roster. Falkenberg said focus groups supplement the stakeholder group: one round of focus groups took place the night before the meeting at the Redmond Senior & Community Center (about 30 attendees across breakout groups) and another round was scheduled for Sept. 23 at the Redmond Community Center at Marymoor Village, with an online option.

Several council members sought clarification. Council member Fields challenged staff's description of how the stakeholder roster was finalized and said the subcommittee did not have a collaborative role in producing the final list; Fields recorded disagreement with staff's account of the selection process and asked whether the council should require additional information from consultants about what it would take to reopen the facility immediately. Staff responded that the roster was developed with subcommittee input, additional names were requested and the subcommittee asked staff to increase teen representation; staff said adding more stakeholder members now would be difficult because the group has already spent significant time together.

Committee leadership said it would seek additional previews and allow the teen center subcommittee to brief the full council to prepare members for the Nov. 12 study session. Falkenberg said the stakeholder goal is a recommendation that can be summarized in a short statement for the study packet and accompanied by a report and a focus-groups summary.

No formal motions or council votes were recorded during the Sept. 23 discussion. The timeline recorded in the transcript: an update to Committee of the Whole in October (staff stated Oct. 28), a study session presentation of the final recommendation on Nov. 12, and a hoped-for decision at the Nov. 18 business meeting. Staff said the stakeholder recommendation will be informational to council and that any action on property or location would require council direction.

Staff contacts: Lindsay Falkenberg, Parks Planning Manager; Lorraine Hamilton, Parks Director.