Burien Community Center (Annex and Skate Park)
425 S.W. 144th Street
4.8 Acres
The Burien Community Center lies next to the former "Crosby Road." In the early 1900s, Homer Crosby came to the Highline area and built the road (146th Street S.W.) from Ambaum Boulevard to First Avenue South. Crosby, one of the area's early residents, also worked on the construction of Ambaum Boulevard, using "donkey engines" to do much of the heavy work of hauling logs, moving earth and carving out a roadbed.
The Burien Community Center property was farm and residential land until Chelsea Park Elementary School was built there. The school was constructed in 1947-’48 to relieve overcrowding at Lake Burien, Hazel Valley and Sunnydale Elementary Schools. The growth of the Highline School District—“favorably known” nationwide—was one of the biggest factors in attracting home-seekers to the South End.
Chelsea Park School closed in 1976. The Highline Community Center (now the Burien Community Center) was brought about by the countywide Forward Thrust program of the late 1960s, through renovation of this surplus elementary school site. The Burien Community Center occupies the buildings and grounds that once were Chelsea Park School. The Center today sits next to a lovely, multifaceted park that includes a popular skatepark, basketball court, picnic tables and open grassy spaces, and is the site of Burien’s annual June Strawberry and Arts Festival.
Local teacher Tom Sahle helped raise the money for the skatepark and even did much of the concrete work himself.
The Community Center has meeting spaces for businesses, groups and organizations, including nearly a thousand square feet of meeting rooms, a 1,650-square-foot conference room, a kitchen and 900-square-foot dance/yoga studio. It is a great place to hold a meeting, party, wedding or special event.
During four months in the fall, winter and spring, the Auditorium is used on weekends for Burien Little Theatre productions. The Burien Little Theatre, King County Recreation Division’s first in-residence community theater program, was established in 1979.
In 1994 the City of Burien negotiated the assumption of responsibility for Burien Park and the Highline Community Center with King County. Newly hired City staff began scheduling programs for Highline Community Center beginning with the 1994 spring quarter. Policies on facility use and fees were finalized in September, 1994. As of 2007, the Burien Parks Department, many senior programs and other City-sponsored activities were located there.
The Burien Community Center is beginning to show signs of its age, however. The Center’s roof was damaged in the December 15, 2006 windstorm.
This project was
developed through a Heritage Special Projects Program grant funded by
4Culture and with the assistance
of the
Highline
Historical Society.
