The Queen Anne Community Center has truly been the neighborhood’s comeback kid, after being nearly completely wiped from the mayor’s budget in 2011-2012. At that time, the center was to remain open, but the gym would have been rented to “BizKid$,” a national public-television series for children.
But despite the “BizKid$” plan and the city’s $67 million budget shortfall, Queen Anne neighbors came together to fight for the survival of the center.
“Queen Anne is a community that doesn’t pay attention until it hurts us,” said Ellen Monrad, chair of the Queen Anne Community Council. “Then we all come together and achieve great things.”
The center won out. It is now open approximately 45 hours per week.
“It has day care and senior programs on a volunteer basis, so it’s probably operating for more hours than that,” Monrad said.
The turnaround
The BizKid$ TV show would have brought in $2,000 to $3,000 in revenue, according to Monrad, with the money allocated toward financing city programs for children.
City officials claimed the Queen Anne Community Center was integral for production of the local show because of its proximity to McClure Middle School, where students could easily be interviewed or used on the show, according to Monrad.
But Jamie Hammond, co-executive producer of “BizKid$,” pulled the plan after reading a Facebook page dedicated to saving the center.
“When the TV production realized that they were becoming the bad guy, they took back their plan,” Monrad explained.
"Yes, the city needs revenue," a post on the Facebook page said. "But we also need to maximize the recreational facilities that we have — a neighborhood gym is a terrible thing to waste."
“BizKid$,” instead, sought a commercial property to produce its shows.
In addition, the center was privy to renovations this past year.
Last spring, the Queen Anne Community Center was upgraded, with replacement of a 60-year-old boiler to an energy-efficient system. Electrical-system upgrades were also part of the project and included replacing old fuse panels throughout the building with new circuit-breaker panels. New wiring was laced throughout, and an emergency generator system was automated, as well.
The center also got its executive director back, after going director-less for many months.
“Without a director, the operations remain at the status quo,” Monrad said. “If you can’t generate programs, you can’t generate income. You’re doomed: You’re not getting revenue and consequently, you’re not earning your keep.
“The center now has good volunteers and staff people and great programs for teenagers,” she added.
Still, the center is anxious to acquire more hours and get management to how it was pre-2011. It had been open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., which the community hopes to reinstate.
A different outlook
The Magnolia Community Center hasn’t been as lucky.
For 2012, the Seattle City Council approved a reduction in operating hours for the Magnolia Community Center, from 60 to 25 hours. Because of the high volume of activities in 2012, Magnolia was given 10 additional hours. But, for 2013, the council is proposing to reduce these hours back to 25 hours.
Magnolia Community Club president Stephen DeForest said the Magnolia Community Center is suffering from this. “Certainly, there have been cuts from operations and management,” he said. “This coming year, we are trying to restore it back to 35 hours per week, but we’ll see. The cut from 35 hours a week to 25 was [disappointing].”
The center’s staff contends the additional cuts would decrease services even further, which may include the highly valued crime-prevention program for teens, as well as drop-in playtime for toddlers, pottery and aerobics classes for senior citizens and drop-in sports.
DeForest said he hoped the center would pick back up, since it’s an asset to the neighborhood.
The difference in budget coping between the two neighborhoods’ community centers has largely to do with the population it serves. Queen Anne has a bigger population than Magnolia, lending its community center to host more programs and serve more people.
The Queen Anne Community Center is open weekdays from 1 to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and closed on Sundays.
The Magnolia Community Center is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3 to 8 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday from 3 to 9 p.m.; Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and closed on Sunday.
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