A Roof to Root For!

Something is happening at 1607 S. Forest Street.

Some may have noticed renewed activity at the Beacon Hill First Baptist Church — in addition to Sunday services starting back up post-pandemic, another happening evolved: since losing its lease arrangement just across the street in the Beacon Hill Public Library’s old DON service center space, Beacon Business Alliance (BBA) now runs its operations out of the landmark building: programming, outreach, and technical assistance for the Beacon Hill business community  — right here, in the neighborhood we serve. And we haven't kept it to ourselves. 

Mission-aligned organizations, Mt. Baker Hub Alliance and Rainier Ave Business Coalition, plus a growing roster of Beacon Hill community groups have found in this building something increasingly rare in Seattle: affordable, accessible space to gather, organize, and incubate. For a neighborhood that has watched community spaces disappear to development and rising costs, 1607 S. Forest is quietly becoming something the community didn't know it was missing.

The building that holds all of this is worth knowing. Beacon Hill First Baptist Church was designed by Seattle architect Ellsworth Storey and built in 1910 — a landmarked structure that has housed community life for over a century. The Beacon Hill First Baptist congregation has called it home since the 1960s. Building maintenance had always been a problem for the a congregation with limited resources, but in 2020, as the core congregation waned and COVID imposed its distances, the building went quiet. BBA has been working in close partnership with the church family ever since, negotiating a shared use arrangement that keeps the building active while honoring its legacy — and working toward a long-term future as the Beacon Hill Community Resilience Hub: a permanent home for artists, youth arts educators, small business entrepreneurs, and neighbors.

But right now, the roof needs us.

Over the years, without regular maintenance, squirrels and raccoons have made the building their home — and the damage they've done is ongoing. BBA is asking for your help to bring in a professional contractor to install one-way doors, screening barriers, and roof vent covers that will stop the damage in its tracks. This isn't a speculative investment in a future vision — it protects a building that is actively serving our community today, and that will benefit the current owners and any future steward of the space regardless of what comes next.

$10,000 gets the job done. Your donation — any amount — gets us there.

GiveBig on May 5th. Our neighborhood found its third place. Help us keep the roof over it.