
My wife Cathy enters the new home of Renton Historical Society and Genealogy Center at 1025 South Third Street, Renton, WA
Renton Historical Society and Genealogy Center has completed their move from Renton Technical College to the historic Snoqualmie Power building they purchased in downtown Renton, across the street from the Renton History Museum. I wrote about their new building purchase in this April blog entry here. My wife and I dropped into their new office for a visit yesterday and were given an update by their friendly and informative Office Manager, Jennifer Douwes.
The Society’s artifacts, photographs and historical documents have been moved into their new location, and are being unpacked and organized. In the near term these are available for research and study. Longer term, the Historical Society will put many of these back on public display, either in the Renton History Museum, their own building, and/or other secure locations that will benefit Renton residents..

Office Manager Jennifer Douwes, right, visits with us in the entry lobby of the new Renton Historical Society headquarters.
Anyone interested in learning more about Renton’s history can visit the Historical Society from 1:00-4:00 PM Tuesday-Friday, or by studying their growing online content and reaching out to them through the contact information on their website at RentonHistory.org.


Good for them for bouncing back. I really want to know what the heck was going on when the city broke ties.
Soaking up city money for the staff to do #redacted# finally caught up.
What? Can’t you just keep doing the same thing for a decade and a half and wait until retirement?
I hope you will write a blog about the piazza’s renovation. The substantial expenditure of taxpayer money has not yielded satisfactory results. The mayor has described this as an “improvement”, and I believe he should provide taxpayers with a detailed justification. His primary focus seems to be on securing re-election, and it appears that personal financial gain is also a motivating factor. Regrettably, his leadership has been ineffective. Are you contemplating a mayoral run? If not, I intend to discuss this matter with the council members, as I believe any of them, including Carmen, would be a better choice.
On this blog search for piazza that should get you information on what has been written so far. Thanks to Randy for the facts.
Also check this out it has financial info
Renton Council should reject renting the Pavilion below market rate
Here is the link to “Renton Council should reject renting the Pavilion below market rate” mentioned in the comment above: https://www.randycorman.com/?p=29128
It seems you are confused. I am not talking about the Pavilion, I like the idea of transforming that empty space in downtown into a market. I am referring to our stunning piazza, filled with trees, which served as a lovely gathering space and added charm and beauty to our city. I was looking for an enhancement of the piazza, not and a waste of funds. I was expecting an enhancement of the piazza, not a diminished version of the same. They are spoiling this beautiful place. Does the mayor genuinely believe this is an improvement? What a wasteful use of taxpayer money!
I am not talking about the Pavilion, I like the idea of transforming that empty space in downtown into a market. I am referring to our stunning piazza, filled with trees, which served as a lovely gathering space and added charm and beauty to our city. I was looking for an enhancement of the piazza, not and a waste of funds. I was expecting an enhancement of the piazza, not a diminished version of the same. They are spoiling this beautiful place. Does the mayor genuinely believe this is an improvement? What a wasteful use of taxpayer money!
I agree with you Anonymous that this was an unnecessary expenditure of $3 million taxpayer dollars, that primarily served to eliminate desirable trees, foliage, and water features. I also agree that a new article is probably in order, now that we’ve experienced the mostly unshaded piazza on an 85 degree sunny day. My most recent article on the topic is here, and it has links to a few other articles on the topic that I wrote before and during construction. As a former Councilmember who helped plan and build our original piazza, I was disappointed to see so much upheaval of the original work. Thanks for your interest!
So… Who is going to run for mayor next year?
“Who’s going to run for mayor next year?”
Indeed.
Who’s running for mayor next year? Word is Pavone is running again, for what would be his 3rd term (boo!). Also going around, inside and outside of City Hall, Ruth Perez is running, Kim-Kahn Van might, and there’s usually a surprise person no one suspected that appears at the last minute.
It’s wonderful to see Renton people actually paying attention already to upcoming elections that will greatly impact our City.
Randy?
Pavone would be almost impossible to beat. Voters rarely remove incumbents when things seem to be going reasonably well.
I don’t make the rules. It’s the same dynamic that helped Carmen Rivera beat Mary and KKV beat Randy. If you want to defeat a weak incumbent, you have to make the election a referendum on that person. Voters need a clear reason to vote against the incumbent, not just a reason to vote for the challenger.
Mary and Randy never did that. The results were predictable.
The next candidate needs to connect KKV to the puppy mill issue and force Carmen to answer questions about the domestic violence and LGBTQIA abuse allegations.
Elections are often decided by what voters associate with a candidate. If challengers want to win, they need to focus attention on the incumbent’s record and actions. Otherwise, voters usually stick with the status quo.
We don’t care that Carmen allegedly harassed an LGBTQ person at Pride. As an LGBTQ person herself, she has her own reason on why she needed to participate. Leaver her alone! Give her space!
Candidates sometimes choose an incomplete campaign strategy not because it lets them preserve their sense of integrity. When they lose, they can live with it. They can tell themselves that they didn’t compromise. It’s kind of moral comfort.
The trouble is that the people that ran against crazy are real people. Expecting them to behave other than themselves is unreasonable or at least should be expected.
Sadly, Renton (as a community) has no way of holding out government accountable.
It’s telling that the garbage train got fixes as soon as a searchlight was placed on it. Thanks Randy.
What a bunch of cope. Carmen Rivera is just the better candidate. She got the police endorsement because of it.
Ask Corry on the RPD why he likes his sessions with Carmen Rivera.
Stop your speculation. Such meetings are not part of the public record and as they are not in their official capacity.
It’s weird. We destroyed some nice things, when we could have used the three million to add something new.
Best comment. “We destroyed some nice things, when we could have used the three million to add something new.” Yes, it IS weird.
Anything about Seattle bussing their homeless into Renton for FIFA?
Thought it was (insert random rural desert city here).