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-The old fire station at Yesler and 23rd,
Fire Station 6, has been sitting mostly vacant for a decade.
It has a long history that stretches back to 1932.
It's an architectural treasure,
a visual landmark in the central area
and a place with a lot of potential.
-So this is the main space for gathering,
connection, events,
performance, presentations.
-The firefighters and trucks are long gone.
They move to a new station nearby in 2013.
But a new era for the old station is about to begin.
Seattle residents, led by a community group
called Africa Town Land Trust,
will transform the building into the William Grose Center
for Cultural Innovation and Enterprise.
William Grose’s image is painted
on a utility box across from the old station.
But Seattle's early Black
entrepreneur is not exactly a household name.
-William Grose
is definitely an under-recognized pioneer.
He played a significant role in the regeneration of Seattle
after the Great Fire, and he bought 12 acres of land
from Henry Yesler in 1882 that established
the Central District as a settling place for
people of African descent.
And that's where we see
the William Grose Center for Culture Innovation
and enterprising presenting a great opportunity to do.
-Wyking Garrett is CEO of Africa Town Land Trust.
In June 2020, the City of Seattle agreed to
transfer Fire Station 6 to the nonprofit group.
The exact details are still being worked out,
but plans are in motion.
♪♪
-And now we have an opportunity
to repurpose it as a space that not only provides
a vital function
of bringing economic development,
cultural development, community development,
and really be a major vessel
and vehicle for the regeneration
of the Black community
that has made its home here in the Central District.
-The possible transfer of assets
like Fire Station six was first identified
as part of something called an equity analysis,
when Seattle is updating its long range plan.
It's now an element of the city's
Equitable Development Initiative.
-And the equity analysis
just told us what the community knew around,
no matter what growth strategy
the city was going to go with, that was going
to be communities which are going to be impacted
by both displacement, by lack of opportunity,
and one of those neighborhoods and communities were
the Central Area community that has been historically
African-American community.
That's where they were redlined
and they created homes and opportunities for themselves.
-This isn't the first time a city resource
has been dedicated to William Grose.
-Under this huge evergreen,
there's a plaque. And this plaque
was the dedication of William Grose Park.
-Stephanie Johnson-Toliver is president
of the Black Heritage Society of Washington.
The history group
led the effort to name a park in Madison Valley in 1983.
-His business was “Our House,”
and “Our House” was a restaurant and hotel
and it was, you know, people would come to town and visit.
They would stay at this hotel, very popular hotel.
He was well accepted by all communities in Seattle.
He made loans to people.
He was a philanthropist.
All of those big things.
-Stephanie Johnson-Toliver
says the Seattle of
William Grose’s time, from the 1860s to the 1890s,
was not yet a place where
segregation or racial prejudice
against Black people had taken hold.
-When he arrived,
the community was really accepting of him.
He was able to move
in circles
that maybe you wouldn't expect that he would be able
to move in at that time.
-William Grose became
a wealthy entrepreneur in 19th century Seattle.
He's also considered the founder of Seattle's
first Black neighborhood in Madison Valley.
But in 1944, academic account of Grose’s
move from downtown to Madison is not exactly complimentary.
It describes the neighborhood's
growth as an invasion of Negroes.
The redlining, and those racial covenants,
followed soon after.
Ubax Gardheere says that Fire Station 6
can help address these multiple historic wrongs.
-Transferring city owned properties
or investing in communities that have been impacted
by racially restrictive covenants,
redlining, widespread disinvestment,
is the right direction for the city to take right now
to partner with and work with this communities
to build wealth.
-Timing for the project and plans
for raising the money required
to transform the old fire station
into the William Grose Center for Cultural Innovation
and Enterprise will come in 2021.
In the meantime, Africa Town Land Trust
is looking to the future, but keeping an eye on the past.
-The city and the mayor and the city council
and the people on that side are able to finally embrace
the opportunity and facilitate
the community moving forward in this way.
So I think that's the positive and it speaks to just
sticking to it.
♪♪
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