Where Redmond Found Its Sound: Club Red, the Old Fire House, and the teens who made music history
- RHSociety
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Alice C.
The Redmond community may have been the first in its region to create a center for teens to explore and converse with others.
Club Red, Redmond’s first youth teen center, was initially created in response to the growing teen need for a space for hanging out. Many teenagers in Redmond were struggling to find a place where they could truly express themselves—most public places were either only open to adults, or didn’t feel right for teenagers. The solution, Club Red, was held at the YMCA building, formerly a combination city hall/jail, and the town's first fire station. After the YMCA moved out, Club Red began to flourish.
In 1950 Redmond had just 600 residents, 75 of whom volunteered labor and materials for a combination fire station/city hall/jail. Pictured here during the 1955 Derby days celebration.
A new city hall was erected in 1970 on the city's 85th Street campus.
One of the most popular activities held at Club Red was the music scene, uniquely designed for teenagers. Music soon grew to be the most favored activity by teenagers, and with the introduction of Battle of the Bands, the teenagers’ love for music grew.
When Club Red morphed into the Old Fire House Teen Center, the music scene did all but taper down: teens all over Redmond flocked to the Teen Center for the opportunity to share and make music with their peers.
We sat down with Chris Cullen, who was the director of the Old Fire House Teen Center in Redmond, to ask him a few questions about his experience working in the music scene, and explore more about the history of the Teen Center and music.
We learned that the Old Firehouse Program was incredibly involved with the opinions and ideas of the teenagers who attended, which made it such a popular place for teens to hang out and express themselves.
In 1992, a meeting was held in Redmond to ask what the wants and needs of teenagers were. Nearly 80 teenagers showed up, advocating for a place for young adults to hang out and play music. This strategy was a blast. At the Old YMCA Firehouse Building’s first show, over 300 people showed up. This program began to grow, attracting teenagers from across the region.
Alongside the help of Chris Cullen, teenager Andy Lawrence masterminded a competition where young adults in bands, having one member being aged 14 to 21, could compete against each other in a “Rock-A-Thon.” This was intended to be a space where up-and-coming bands could perform and gain exposure in their community. To incentivize bands to perform and compete, the organizers partnered with local music schools, like the Rock School, and got sponsorships for prizes like guitars and amps.
The Old Firehouse Program brought both memorable bands, such as Sunny Day Real Estate and Ground Zero, and memorable moments: Kurt Cobain, a member of the rock band Nirvana, even went to a show at the Teen Center.
As the Old Firehouse continued to host more shows, more people heard about it. Cullen described it as a “domino effect," where one thing inspired other things to happen. Other programs on the Eastside soon began to pop up, which were loosely based on the Redmond Fire House Program.
After learning about the impact that the Redmond Fire House Program, we asked Cullen what he thought youth in this area could do to propel the future of music in the Redmond area. He pushed for continuing the adult and youth collaboration to best find how to serve their needs.
And last but not least, Cullen recommended Sunny Day Real Estate as an artist to check out.
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