2001 The League of American Bicyclists designates Redmond a Bicycle-Friendly Community, 52nd city to receive the honor (Hardy Timeline II 13)
5/29 Redmond High School senior Kat Misenar and her family pull off a prank that will long be remembered. They open a 1985 Mazda and maneuver it sideways so that the school flag-pole is in the middle of the vehicle and looks as if it is impaled by the flag pole. (Hardy Timeline II 13)
9/ “Redmond Reporter” publishes its first newspaper issue (Hardy Timeline II 13)
2002 4/ Redmond’s first affordable housing opens. Built by King County and a private developer, the 300-unit apartment complex is located atop the Overlake Metro Park ‘n Ride (Hardy Timeline II 13)
7/ The annual Heritage Festival at Marymoor in July is cancelled by King County because of budget problems (Hardy Timeline II 13)
7/1 Juel Community Park on NE 116th Street opens to the public. Dr. Glenn and Betty Juel sold the $2 million property in 1999 to the City of Redmond for just $400,000 on the condition that the land be preserved for recreational use and the trees Dr. Juel planted would be maintained (Hardy Timeline II 13)
8/ Record attendance of 150,000 is set at when the Puget Sound Festival is held at a two-day event sponsored by the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association (Hardy Timeline II 13)
10/6 The Edgar Doolittle Art Garden, located on the north side of the Redmond Library is ceremonially dedicated (Hardy Timeline II 13)
12/ King County closes the Marymoor Museum because of a lack of funding (Hardy Timeline II 13)
2003 3/11 Citizens vote to retain a strong mayor form of city government. Out of a 30.9% turnout of eligible voters, votes in favor the proposition to change to a city manager form were 2207, and those opposed were 5175 (Hardy Timeline II 13)
4/ A ceremony to dedicate the beach in honor of Chandler Pickering and mark the completion of the Idylwood Stream Rehabilitation Project is held at Idylwood Beach Park. Pickering moved to Redmond in 1951, and was active in the Red Cross, Boy Scouts, Kiwanis, and served on the city’s Park Board (Hardy Timeline II 13)
5/18 The old Redmond High School is demolished after a reunion, “The Last Roundup”, is held for all those associated with the school (Hardy Timeline II 13)
5/31 Founded in 1956, the Kiwanis club of Redmond disbands (Hardy Timeline II 13)
6/ Redmond Manor trailer park is demolished (Hardy Timeline II 13)
7/ The first unmarked police vehicle, used to target aggressive drivers, patrols Redmond’s (Hardy Timeline II 13)
7/1 The City Council approves the first heritage grant for the Community-Odd Fellows Hall at 7979 Leary Way built in 1903 (Hardy Timeline II 14)
7/23 Macy’s Department store opens in Town Center (Hardy Timeline II 14)
9/ The newly constructed Redmond High School opens in the same location (RHS)
10/22 The Wellhead Protection ordinance, unanimously passed by the City Council, is meant to identify threats to city well water, prevent contamination, and provide a plan for responding to accidents (Hardy Timeline II 14)
11/25 Gail Marsh, 23 year veteran Police Commander and Redmond’s first female officer, is fired from the Redmond Police Department after she reports several questionable incidents (Hardy Timeline II 14)
2004 1/ The City commissions two public art projects for its new City Hall and parking garage that is under construction. A glass sculpture will be created for the City Hall entrance by Ed Carpenter of Portland, and a large textured relief for the east facade of the four-level parking garage will be done by Blue McRight and Warren Wagner of Los Angeles (Hardy Timeline II 14)
2/17 City Council approves funds for building a new City Hall that will include City Council chambers. The present City Hall and old Library, which the City has used as a technology center, are slated for demolition (Hardy Timeline II 14)
3/8 Founder of the “Sammamish Valley News”, Robert M Bailie, dies of Alzheimer’s Disease (Hardy Timeline II 14)
4/1 Firemen’s Plaza on the corner of NE 85th Street and l61st Avenue NE is dedicated with a ceremony. The focus of the plaza is a bronze sculpture by artist Judy Phipps, who used Bert Eymberts, a deceased Redmond fireman who died of Huntington’s disease, as a model for the sculpture (Hardy Timeline II 14)
4/9 Financially troubled computer maker, Gateway Inc., closes all of its 188 stores including the Bear Creek store (Hardy Timeline II 14)
4/15 King County completes demolition of Dudley Carter’s Slough House which an arsonist burned days earlier. There was no damage to Haida House or the outdoor sculptures (Hardy Timeline II 14)
5/19 Perrigo Springs is dedicated in a formal ceremony. The Daughters of American colonists provide a bronze plaque and plant a Willow tree near the spring’s dam on Education Hill (Hardy Timeline II 14)
6/12 The Marriott Hotel opens its doors at Redmond Town Center with Jeff Hart as the hotel’s manager (Hardy Timeline II 14)
8/ Redmond North All-Star Little League team wins the Northwest regional play-offs, and heads for the national world series. The only Washington state team to win a LittleLeague World Series was the Kirkland National All-Stars team in 1982 (Hardy Timeline II 14)
8/13 After a fundraiser at a Yarrow Point home, President George W Bush spends the night at Redmond’s new Marriott Hotel in Town Center (Hardy Timeline II 14)
9/13 Microsoft Corporation closes on its court approved purchase of three buildings from bankrupt retailer Eddie Bauer for $38 million or approximately $163 per square-foot (Hardy Timeline II 15)
2005 2/ The King County Department of Transportation plans to construct a new $7 million state-of-the-art Redmond Transit Center on NE 83rd Street. The transit center—which will be designed and built by King County Metro Transit—will include on-street bus loading and bus layover facilities. Financing to construct the transit center has been secured from Sound Transit and federal grants. The county currently owns the 4.8-acre Redmond Park ‘n Ride lot adjacent to the new transit center site (Hardy Timeline II 15)
3/7 A debut demonstration is held at Town Center for the fire Department’s new $830,000 Pierce Dash platform truck that will help firefighters rescue people in tall buildings such as the Marriott hotel (Hardy Timeline II 15)
4/ Eastlake High School student, Brian Byersdorf, becomes Washington State Apply’s “Youth the Year” after winning the Boys and Girls club contest (Hardy Timeline II 15) 4/6 Safeco announces it will close its suburban Redmond offices and expand its Seattle headquarters (Hardy Timeline II 15)
5/9 King County obtains final shoreline permit for grading the East Lake Sammamish Trail, ending one of the most litigious and controversial processes for creating a trail in the history of the US (Hardy Timeline II 15)
5/18 The City Council approves Microsoft expansion that allows the company to add nearly 2 million square feet to its Redmond campus, and increases their workforce by 12,000 employees (Hardy Timeline II 15)
6/ Vietnam’s Prime Minister, Phan Van Khai, visits Redmond, meets with Bill Gates, and announces his country and Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding to offer computer training to more than 50,000 teachers in Vietnam (Hardy Timeline II 15)
6/1 Argent Chemical Laboratories, a Redmond company, has agreed to pay a $300,000 fine and take other actions to stop violating pesticide regulations in a settlement with the US Environmental Protection Agency. The owners of Argent Chemical, Eliot Lieberman and Bertriz Shanahann, were the subjects of a 304-count EPA complaint in May 2004 that alleged the company illegally produced, sold, imported, and exported a variety of potentially dangerous pesticides. In the settlement Argent agreed to cease the illegal activities, and submit to EPA inspections to ensure compliance (Hardy Timeline II 16)
6/26 Former Redmond Councilman and citizen activist, Fred Meitzer, is honored posthumously in a ceremony (Hardy Timeline II 16)
7/ Mayor Ives is selected as one of seven new members of the United States Conference of Mayors Advisory Committee (Hardy Timeline II 16)
7/ Carr America Realty Corporation leases 177,000 square-feet of office space at two properties in Redmond—a sign that the Eastside office market outside Bellevue is improving (Hardy Timeline II 16)
7/22 Legacy Roofing, a 16 year-old roofing installation company servicing Seattle and Eastside homeowners, breaks ground for their new Redmond office located near Overlake the company’s new 21,000 square-foot office building and work yard (Hardy Timeline II 16)
8/5 King County re-establishes free movie nights at the park with a $10,000 sponsorship from Portland based First Tech Credit Union (Hardy Timeline II 16)
8/15 Edgar Martinez, former Seattle Mariner and owner of Caribbean Embroidery located in Redmond, is the celebrity guest of the Chamber of Commerce’s annual golf tournament held at the Bear Creek Country Club (Hardy Timeline II 16)
9/ Animals abandoned during Hurricane Katrina are brought by chartered plane from New Orleans to the Redmond Veterinary Hospital on Union Hill Road. Further plane loads of animals are to follow in an operation spearheaded by Pasado’s Safe Haven, the animal rescue organization (Hardy Timeline II 16)
9/29 Lake Washington Technical College’s new Redmond Campus Corporate Learning Center officially opens. The $7 million, 20,000 square-foot education and training facility includes classrooms, conference rooms, computer labs, an auditorium, and a two-story atrium facing the park. While general education classes will be offered starting this month, the focus is on business training with courses such as accounting and business law (Hardy Timeline II 16)
10/ The Marymoor Park Pet Garden opens with the county’s hope the 1.25-acre site will make a profit to help support all county parks. Pet owners can memorialize pets with their ashes in urns for $800 (Hardy Timeline II 17)
10/31 Redmond’s 89th traffic signal begins working on NE 83rd Street at 161st Avenue NE. Redmond General Insurance owner, Keith Brewer, and his son, Nick, are the advocates who promoted the light’s installation (Hardy Timeline II 17)
11/ Tony Roma’s restaurant adjacent to Wendy’s on Redmond Way closes its doors (Hardy Timeline II 17)
11/15 King County signs over ownership of Slough House Park to the City of Redmond. Dudley Carter’s Haida House is still located in the one-acre park, but Carter’s carvings from the site are in storage pending resolution of ownership (Hardy Timeline II 17)
2006 Grand opening of the new City Hall showcases artwork, gracious City Council Chambers, and general spaciousness (Hardy Timeline II 17)
1/ City Public Works Department proposes to build a water treatment facility in Anderson Park for the two wells located there. The proposal is met with some public disapproval because it is inappropriate for this historic site (Hardy Timeline II 17)
1/ Craig Larsen becomes the new Parks and Recreation Director replacing Danny Hopkins, who left the post at the end of 2005 to return to Florida (Hardy Timeline II 17)
2/15 Puget Sound Publishing Company launches a monthly newspaper to cover local business news on the Eastside. “The Business Report”, with an initial circulation of 16,000, is mailed to every business address in Bellevue, mercer Island, Kirkland, Redmond, Woodinville, Issaquah, Sammamish, and Newcastle. Denis Law is Puget Sound Publishing’s President (Hardy Timeline II 17)
4/ Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Bill Gates at Microsoft headquarters, and announces Chinese PC makers will pay $1.6 billion for Windows software (Hardy Timeline II 17)
4/ Fire Station 15 will close because of anticipated longer response times for the area just off Redmond-Fall City Road on 228th Avenue NE. When the older station closes, the three firefighters who staff Station 15 will move to the new Redmond Ridge station (Hardy Timeline II 17)
4/18 During discussion in executive session, the City Council members come to a consensus to locate the proposed well water treatment facility outside of Anderson Park (Hardy Timeline II 17)
5/ Representatives of Kiwanis International begin to organize a Kiwanis Club in Redmond, and seek 25 committed members as a requirement for official recognition (Hardy Timeline II 17)
5/4 Cirque du Soleil presents “Varelai” at Marymoor Park for the first time necessitating 4-acres of paving for the production (Hardy Timeline II 17)
5/15 The Lake Washington School District approve “Rosa Parks” as the name for the new Redmond Ridge elementary school to open in September at 22845 NE Cedar Park Crescent (Hardy Timeline II 18)
6/5 The city of Redmond is notified that it has received the “Preserve America” designation, a national recognition for heritage activities (Hardy Timeline II 18)
6/8 Sherry Grindeland reports that “Money” magazine and CNN/Money in their ranking of cities around the country ranked Redmond #27 as one of the best places to raise families and “celebrate life’s milestones”. Only two other towns in Washington made the top 100—Bainbridge Island was #2 and Vancouver #91 (Hardy Timeline II 18)
6/19 Mayor Rosemarie Ives proclaims June 19-25, 2006, to be Amateur Radio Week in order to honor radio operators who have partnered with the city to provide backup communication in the event of a disaster (Hardy Timeline II 18)
8/ Owner of Smoker’s Choice Plus in Redmond, Hrant “Mike” Aslanyan, is accused of being part of a criminal organization stealing customer’s credit card information, and is arrested with bail set at $1 million (Hardy Timeline II 18)
8/ Whole Foods Market opens at Redmond Way and 180th Avenue NE (Hardy Timeline II 18)
2007 2/14 Tent City, housing 40 to 50 otherwise homeless residents, sets up at St. Jude’s (RReporter)
3/3 Orson A. Wiley’s home better known as the Stone House, built about 1916 on Cleveland Street near Leary Way, is granted King Count historic status (RReporter) 3/17 Mothers Against Sexual Predators campaign to toughen laws against stalking and flashing children younger than 14 (RReporter)
4/20 First annual Rock-a-thon is held at Old Fire House Teen Center (RReporter) 5/12 Housing prices increase 20% over last year’s prices. The median value of a Redmond home is $719,975 (RReporter)
7/8 Cleo Hartman, who with her husband Opie organized and ran the bicycle races at Derby Days from the mid 1950’s to the 1970’s, dies. She was a Girl Scout leader, President of the Business and Professional Women, United Services Organization member, and Sammamish Valley News Woman of the Year (RReporter)
8/4 Brian Falkenborg, a 1996 graduate of Redmond High School, pitches for the St. Louis Cardinals (RReporter)
9/8 Hank Myers, commercial transportation economist, is appointed to fill John Resha’s unexpired City Council term (RReporter)
9/12 A game wall is dedicated at Horace Mann Elementary School. Students raised the funds for construction of the wall that is used to play games on during recess (RReporter)
10/10 A new computer laboratory opens at the Old Fire House Teen Center funded by a program that provides technology skills to under-served youth (RReporter)
10/18 The Matador opens in the Bill Brown Building with seating up to 115 guests (RReporter)
12/1 John Marchione wins the election for mayor (RReporter)
2008 Mayor Rosemarie Ives retires after 16 years as Mayor (RReporter)
1/5 Digipen Institute of Technology awards Mayor Ives a MS in Computer Science (RReporter)
1/9 Five employees at two local massage establishments are arrested for prostitution. Only one of the five masseuse’s was licensed (RReporter)
1/12 City of Redmond begins a new budget strategy “Budgeting for Outcomes” which sets six to ten budget priorities proposed by the Council or citizens (RReporter)
1/19 A beaver chews one-half of the trunk of a 30-year old cedar tree on the property of Championship Motors at Avondale Road and Union Hill Road(RReporter)
1/23 Hopelink’s Avondale Park transition housing receives $945,000 over 10 years to provide comprehensive case management and employment support for 342 homeless families (RReporter)
2/2 City buys Redmond Shopping Square for $10,585,000 to extend 161st Ave NE from Leary Way and Bear Creek Parkway (RReporter)
2/9 Redmond Transit Center opens at 16160 NE 83rd Street, and offers spacious boarding, passenger shelters, and enhanced lighting. Improvements funded by King County Metro, Sound Transit, and City of Redmond (RReporter)
3/15 Students at the DigiPen Insitute of Technology win first place in the video game contest at the Student Showcase of Independent Games Festival in San Francisco (RReporter)
5/9 Rain Dogs win the Classic Rock-a-thon at the Old Fire House Teen Center (RReporter)
6/28 Crystal Marshall (17) and Keren Stewart (16) are awarded the Congressional Award Gold Medal for youth service in the age group 14-23. The award is given for achievement and meeting goals in voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition/exploration (RReporter)
7/26 Grass Lawn Park is upgraded with an all season picnic pavilion and a children’s play area complete with a splash pool (RReporter)
8/2 Redmond High School graduates Jennifer Arter (clarinet), Tom Glanz (clarinet), and Dan Reisinger (trumpet) perform with the 2008 Olympic Orchestra in Beijing, China (RReporter)
8/20 Bear Creek Parkway expansion to 159th Place NE is underway (RReporter)
8/23 City of Redmond’s bond rating is upgraded to AAA by Standard and Poor (RReporter)
9/10 Safety improvements on Novelty Hill Road from 243rd to West Snoqualmie Valley Road will be made with a Rural Safety Innovation Program grant (RReporter)
9/13 City of Redmond transfers 2.36 acres of land on east Lake Sammamish to the City of Sammamish to form Sammamish Landing Park (RReporter)
10/1 Bear Creek will be re-routed to a more northerly stream bed along State Route 520 in order to improve salmon habitat (RReporter)
11/5 Nancy Chang, Teen Program Coordinator for the City of Redmond, receives Woman of Worth by L’Oréal Paris for outstanding commitment to community achievement for her work for Skate Like a Girl. The Mission of Skate Like a Girl is to empower girls and women of all ages, abilities, shapes, and sizes through skateboard programs ( RReporter)
2009 1/3 Alka Basdshak co-chairs Asian Indian women’s group who desire to leave a legacy. The group works to raise funds for 2,000-seat performing arts center in Bellevue (RReporter)
1/7 Store closures include Barcelino clothing in Town Center and Underhill’s Furniture on Redmond Way in Bill Brown’s Garage (RReporter)
1/28 Anderson Park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The park has also been called Redmond City Park or Town Park (RReporter)
1/ Dartmoor School opens to teach learning disabled and professional children who need flexible schedules (RReporter)
1/31 Cindy Courtmanch is named the Chamber of Commerce “Champion of the Year” for exemplifying encouragement of businesses to do business with each other. She is active on committees and is an event supporter (RReporter)
2/4 Volunteers count 158 homeless people in Redmond, Bellevue, and Kirkland (RReporter)
2/7 Tree House consignment shop has been doing business in Redmond for 30 years, and credits their success to the stocking of specialty items (RReporter)
2/25 The city begins rewriting Redmond Community Development Guide. The last time the guide was revised was in 1978 (RReporter)
2/28 Sammamish Sew Whats make 60 or more quilts per month in order to give one to each injured soldier returning from Afghanistan and Iraq to Madigan Army Hospital near Fort Lewis(RReporter)
3/14 Police Chief, Steve Harris, retires after 28 years of police service to the citizens of Redmond. He is the third longest serving chief in the state, and has a career total of 42 years in law enforcement (RReporter)
5/14 Marymoor Connector Trail is completed, and connects Marymoor Park to the north end of Lake Sammamish (RReporter)
5/ The first Redmond school bell made for the school built in Anderson Park in 1892 is rededicated at its new location behind the Public Safety Building facing the lawn of the Municipal Campus (RReporter)
5/ Alex Zylstra, 2005 graduate of The Overlake School, receives a Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship from the US Department of Energy. Zylstra is pursuing a doctorate in high-energy-density physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (RReporter)
5/29 Ford Motor Company CEO, Alan Mullaly, personally delivers a 2010 Fusion Hybrid Ford to Microsoft Corporation CEO, Steve Ballmer, the son of a 30-year Ford employee (RReporter)
7/24 Aerojet derives formulas to construct propulsion systems used by NASA in a variety of space exploration vehicles including the current Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.Aerojet employs 400 in Redmond (RReporter)
7/30 The Bear Creek Extension opens that provides connections to Leary Way and Redmond Way (RReporter)
8/4 Smarter Cities Website sponsored by the National Resources Defense Council ranks Redmond 10th in the nation in its smaller cities category (50,000 to 99,999 population). Cities are ranked by Yale researchers in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies according to data indicators of availability of clean air and water, efficient transportation, green buildings, and livability (RReporter)
9/25 Happy Valley Grange founded on October 1, 1909 celebrates 100 years of community service, and is one of the oldest organizations on the Eastside. The local grange was formed by local farmers and rural dwellers who wanted to protect their rights. The goal of the grange is equality for all and pursuit of good legislation (RReporter)
10/4 More than 170 people of all faiths unite in a choir to perform “An Ecumenical Musical Gathering, One Voice in Song and Praise” ceremony hosted by St. Jude’s Catholic Church. The ceremony was in appreciation to the community for hosting Tent City 4 at St. Jude’s (RReporter)
10/9 Trader Joe’s opens in Redmond Center (RReporter)
11/5 The city Signs a Memorandum of Understanding with partners, Port of Seattle, KingCounty, Sound Transit, Puget Sound Energy, and Cascade Water Alliance, to preserve the Eastside Rail Corridor and place it in public ownership (RReporter)
11/27 Tom Anderson races the U-5 hydroplane sponsored by Precision Performance Engineering at the Oryx World Cup in Doha, Qatar, but a flip-up causes him to be out of contention in the race (RReporter)
12/4 Nancy McCormick, a City Council member since 1986, retires, but retains her appointment to the Development Guide Rewrite Commission (RReporter)
2010 US Census indicates Redmond population is 54,144
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