Jamie Kaiser, owner with his wife, Holley, of King Street Cove, speaks to attendees and performers at the 'Words and Music' open mic held on Dec. 11, 2019.
For 60 years, a small but dedicated Jewish community in Lewis County had a home in downtown Centralia at Temple Adath Israel. Their synagogue has been largely vacant since the congregation shut its doors 25 years ago, but the building has now come back to gorgeous life as a stunningly beautiful place for live music.
King Street Cove, as the building is now known, has been a 14-month labor of love for Jamie Kaiser. He and his father have rebuilt the inside of the temple, which had been stripped down to the bare studs during a previous succession of owners.
The Kaisers installed gorgeous wooden planks in the vaulted ceiling in the main sanctuary hall and marble counters in the backstage green room. The walls glow from the subtle interior lighting. He is already showing classic movies in the main space each Friday (for December, it’s Christmas films; once the new year arrives, think flicks like “Cassablanca.”) On Saturdays he plans to have concerts and comedy shows.
In a separate performance space downstairs, Kaiser aimed for the vibe of a French cafe or a classic American jazz club.
Each Thursday he’s hosting an open mic night for original music, poetry and art. The first “Words and Music” event two weeks ago brought in 40 people, he says.
I was there on Thursday for the second weekly open mic. The crowd was smaller but was enthusiastic. (Full disclosure: I played a few songs.)
One performer, Tammy Williams, sang some classic honky-tonk and told us stories of playing on the stage in Nashville’s famous Ryman Auditorium (the Grand Ole Opry House.)
Bluesman Rava McLaine knocked our socks off with soulful singing and incredible sounds that you don’t often get to hear from an acoustic guitar. I couldn’t even see his hands, they were moving so fast.
The open mic nights are organized by local rocker and songwriter Bruce Maier, who played us his own compositions on guitar and piano.
It’s wonderful to see such life and beauty in a place with an important history both in Centralia and Southwest Washington. A 2011 Chronicle story, written when the temple was deteriorating with an uncertain future, lays out the past of the building.
The temple was dedicated in 1930 (the brick structure’s prominent cornerstone also references the year in traditional Jewish chronology as year 5690). Three to four hundred members of the community from all faiths attended the dedication ceremony.
The building plans for the Centralia temple were also used to construct identical buildings in Aberdeen and Olympia.
A year later, the Jewish congregation had already paid off their $12,000 building loan. (That would be $184,820 in today’s dollars.) They held a ceremonial burning of the mortgage ceremony in 1931.
The basement flooded in 1933, which isn’t surprising — the temple sits just a few feet from China Creek.
Services were originally held in Hebrew. As the area’s Jewish community began to leave the area during and after World War II, the congregation noted a decrease in membership from a high of about 50 families. It eventually converted from Conservative to Reform Judaism.
In 1980 the congregation celebrated the 50th anniversary of Temple Adath Israel.
“Although we are a small congregation today,” longtime member Selma Schwartz said, “we take much pride in the gifts and remembrances donated by our former congregants, and their families.”
The last formal major event in the temple was in 1991, when David Schwartz, son of Harold and Joanne Schwartz, was married there. It was the first wedding in the temple in 40 years, and also the last.
In 1992, as the membership dwindled to just seven people, the congregation decided to sell the building. The sale went through in 1994, with the proceeds donated to local charities. Many of the artifacts, including ornate stained glass windows, Torah scrolls and its memorial plaque, were distributed to other regional synagogues.
The exterior of the building still boldly proclaims its history, but inside the building is brand new.
This former house of faith is now dedicated to music. It’s worth a visit, especially when local voices take flight every Thursday evening. Maybe I’ll see you there.
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Brian Mittge is pleased to see this important building given new life. He can be reached at brianmittge@hotmail.com.
