For sale: Mukilteo’s 100-year-old Hawthorne Hall to go on the market

MUKILTEO — A 100-year-old city-owned building with a fabled history is getting a new purpose.

It won’t be for pickleball.

After recent discussion to renovate it for a rec center, the Mukilteo City Council on Monday voted 3-2 to sell Hawthorne Hall, which had sat vacant for five years at 1134 Second St. The council approved an amendment that states proceeds from the sale be used for recreation purposes for residents.

The city will cash in and the buyer will determine the fate of the tattered historic building with stunning views of the water.

The hall is tucked at the end of a quiet residential street in Old Town. The 7,492-square-foot building is on a 16,000-square-foot lot with 12 parking stalls. It opened in the mid-1920s as a dance hall and meeting place.

It has a full basketball court, kitchen and two multipurpose rooms as well as a sagging roof, lead paint and building code issues.

The Snohomish County Assessor’s Office puts the total assessed valuation at $920,000, including the land value of $561,000. Asking price has not been determined, other than it will go for way more than that. Developers could parcel at least two homes on the lot.

The building, on the city’s Historic Register, housed the Mukilteo Boys & Girls Club starting in 1961. The club paid the city $1 per year for rent. About 57 years later, the club moved into snazzy new digs in Harbour Pointe, across from the Mukilteo YMCA and near the police and fire stations.

Since 2018, Hawthorne Hall has been neglected as historical agencies and city officials debate its use.

The grass is high, the foliage overgrown. Some windows are boarded. The front canopy is ripped. It’s seen mostly by dog walkers and a handful of homeowners.

At Monday’s meeting, council members Jason Moon and Steve Schmalz both reversed their previous stances.

Moon explained why he changed his mind and voted to sell the hall.

“In the beginning, I thought this would be a great place for pickleball, volleyball, basketball, for people to rent out,” Moon told The Daily Herald. “It is an amazing place.”

The numbers and the neighbors led to his flip-flop.

“They don’t want a place where there would be a high traffic volume,” Moon said. “To make it structurally sound was going to cost over $700,000.”

That doesn’t count the cost to renovate the interior and the ongoing operating expenses, he said, in addition to the time it would take to get city approval and permits for the project.

Schmalz, who voted against the sale Monday, brought a motion to sell Hawthorne Hall in 2019, which failed. At that time, he said it was in the best interest of the city to sell to recoup the $500,000 to the general fund that was given to the Boys & Girls Club for its new building.

“It’s unfortunate that the council didn’t reach out to the Historical Preservation Commission who unanimously voted to preserve Hawthorne Hall as a historic building,” Schmalz said. “This commission was appointed to study the historical significance of Hawthorne Hall. They met for years and studied this issue and for the council not to meet with them, or at least hear their opinion, I feel was disingenuous.”

Historical Preservation Commission Chair Carolyn “Dode” Carlson spoke up against the sale during public comment at the meeting. She suggested other funding sources be used to add pickleball and other things to Hawthorne Hall.

“I think it should be saved for at least a few years,” she said.

Timing was one reason council member Riaz Khan voted against the sale.

“I would not sell the property at this time,” Khan said. “Keep the building or lease it out to someone else.”

Council member Tom Jordal supported the sale.

“I talked to about 25 people and I haven’t found a strong interest from residents in turning it into a useful place,” he said at Monday’s meeting. “The potential uses, without a major renovation, are really limited.”

Council member Louis Harris, voting for the sale, pointed out the location.

“The character of the neighborhood is very much single-family homes and it’s really difficult for me to go against that,” Harris said. “The character in our neighborhoods is what makes our neighborhood great.”

Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterbrown.