For whatever reason, I have these few vivid snapshot memories of the second-story space above what used to be the Chehalis Police Department at Park and Railroad.
My dad was an officer for the Chehalis Police Department in the 1990s. He was also a competitive bodybuilder. I remember going upstairs to the large, open space above the police station offices. I was maybe 5 or 6 years old. In those days, though, it was full of benches, weight sets and other fitness equipment that city police officers and firefighters used.
I didn’t learn that space had been a public auditorium until many years later.
Memories of that space started to surface for me again these last couple weeks as I watched the changes around the building that is still currently considered home to the Chehalis Fire Department. First the second-story windows disappeared. Shortly after that, fire trucks were parked outside behind chain link fences.
I followed updates in The Chronicle closely, and looked back at The Chronicle’s reporting on the topic through the past couple of years. Recent updates explained that the building is temporarily closed, pending asbestos remediation. I found myself interested in the old building so I thought I’d poke around some more.
I started in the “You might be from Chehalis if … ” group on Facebook. I had only heard stories about the old auditorium — but didn’t know if the auditorium had a specific name. To search news archives effectively, it helps to have some proper keywords and context.
Numerous commenters informed me that the building had been locally termed “The Civic.” Steve Richert provided a few photos showing the old lighted “AUDITORIUM” sign, styled just like the police and fire signs. Most commenters remarked specifically on the 1950s and 1960s-era of The Civic — the musical performances, boxing matches and the Mr. McGoo club for teens.
While that era of history for the building is impressive all on its own, I noticed that was where the memories of the group members really stopped.
There were photos from events throughout that time period — numerous notable bands, social and political events and others — but I wanted to know more.
I mean, how did this auditorium end up on top of a police station? That just seems like a configuration you don’t see every day. In fact, commenters noted musical events of legend that were so raucous, they caused plaster to fall from the ceiling of the police offices and made it hard for officers to hear police communications.
The City of Chehalis website indicated in its historical information that the building had been constructed in 1925. So, I went back in the Chehalis Bee-Nugget archives to see what I could find. The news archives I found wove an interesting story.
I ended up going back to 1921 to get a clearer picture. That year, an older building housed the fire department in roughly the same place on Park Street, but the city needed to build a new jail. So, they made plans to build a new concrete structure near the existing fire hall at Park and Railroad Avenue. Citizens protested this move by the city, because some felt the property near the “double tracks” was too valuable as warehouse property to be a jail.
Articles noted that a jail next to the fire hall would “shut out the light of the fire hall.” Weeks later, a call for bids for construction of the jail ran and the very bottom of a front page of the Bee-Nugget. And, a month after that, it’s mentioned in a brief that construction had begun on the new city jail — a building 30 feet by 44 feet — “next to” the fire hall.
The new structure was made of concrete and was built specifically to be expandable as needed. Office space in part of the building was rented to the Sherman County Light & Power Company.
I didn’t find specific mention in the archives — but it’s really interesting that city officials noted that a building next to the jail would block out the light, then proceeding to build a city jail next to the fire hall while also renting office space to a light and power company. Perhaps a mutual partnership solved a problem there.
In 1924, John West had just been elected mayor. And, a new fire chief had just been appointed — Chief Ernest C. Kuehner. And, prominent citizens were beginning to advocate heavily for a new fire hall. Why? Well, the Bee-Nugget mentions insurance rates as the initial major impetus for the conversation. State insurance officials were raising rates on residents of cities, as well as businesses, that didn’t have what they considered adequate fire protection.
In fact, W.F. West — owner of the St. Helens Hotel at the time — is specifically mentioned voicing concerns at a city commission meeting, stating that if a fire broke out on the upper level of his hotel, he would be left at the “mercy” of the flames, because the city lacked proper fire equipment.
According to city timelines, new Fire Chief Ernest Kuehner had been on the payroll during the raging fire that destroyed the Coal Creek Lumber Company in the early 1920s — a nearly $75,000 loss, according owner C.L. Brown. And, many citizens remembered the fire of 1892 that destroyed most of the Chehalis downtown business district.
By election day 1924, the city commission had placed a bond for vote on the ballot to replace the fire hall with the erection of a new “municipal building” that would house the fire department as well as “supplies for the water department,” along with the purchase of a new 1,000-gallon pumper for “better fire protection.”
Of course, the bond was passed by voters. But the story then sort of takes an unexpected twist.
Stay tuned for the rest of the story next week.
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Brittany Voie welcomes correspondence from the community by email at brittany@voiedevelopment.com.
