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Highland Community Center 14224 NE Bellevue-Redmond Rd
The Highland Community Center is one of the eight clubhouses constructed through a partnership among King County, individual communities, and the federal Works Progress Administration between 1937 and 1940. Together with the other centers, five of which are designated King County Landmarks, it represents the best of a lasting architecture legacy of Depression-era public works in King County. In the 1930s, a portion of the present park site and an unfinished building were donated by a woman and her daughter (names unknown) for use as a community club. The original sections of the building date from early 1900s. The Highland Community Center obtained ownership in the early 1930s; however, the building remained unfinished during the Depression. In December 1938, the Highland Community Center deeded the original 2 1/2 acre park site to King County for the sum of one dollar, with the express purpose of building and maintaining a clubhouse on the site. King County, in cooperation with the WPA, began the $50,000 project in 1939 and completed it in 1940 or shortly thereafter. The center is now primarily used as a recreational and activity center for the disabled with some recreation programs for the general population. The Highland Community Center relates to the study unit themes of recreation and architecture, and possibly to social movements/organizations because of its early history as a community club. It retains its original character and basic integrity of design despite several additions. Its association with the WPA and Depression-era architecture and public works adds to its significance. |