During the pursuit of his Masters in Business Administration at WSU, Scott Goerig wrote a business plan that he hoped might become real one day. His plan called for "Coug West", a WSU themed tavern, focused on good food, fun, and of course the Washington State Cougars, and located on the west side of the Cascade Mountains. He made his plan a reality, but now the Redline is closing.

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When the building at 4439 35th Ave. S.W became available he launched his plan. It has been the home to a long series of restaurants and bars stretching back to the 1970's when it was a Pizza Haven. Before Goerig got there it was called "Legends" and had developed a poor reputation.

With the enthusiasm of a man on a mission Goerig did as much as he could on a limited budget and opened Redline Music and Sports in July of 2007. That transition was made a bit easier by the previous owner Goerig said, "He was so good to me in actually helping me through the process. I had never owned a bar before. I had never worked in a bar before. I had frequented a lot of bars however so I knew what I didn't like."

At first it wasn't easy. There was that reputation, but there was something more. "I don't speak of old bars as much as I do old building. It doesn't matter which bar was here. I feel like they all suffered from the same thing. It was just 'close to bus stop' maybe, I don't know, the wrong direction from the junction," Goerig said.

Legends, toward the end of its run there had been plagued with itinerants approaching people on the outdoor patio and trying to sell them something, sometimes even stolen goods. So Goerig quickly policed all the unwanted behavior and worked to create an atmosphere of good entertainment, high quality food, and a warm public acceptance. When the Redline won the award Best of the Westside people got more comfortable and it was "a noticeable difference" as people began to find out about it.

"Right from the start I set out to compete with the restaurants in the Junction. That was my goal from the onset. I realized in terms of differentiation, most of the things in a bar are substitutable. The beer is going to pour the same, the liquor is going to taste the same so I hit food." He took bits and pieces, recipes and ideas from "every cook who ever worked here," he said creating a 75 item menu. The kitchen is one of the things I'm most proud of, especially under Joshua Huckabay. His creativity, his presentation, all the things he and I built together as a team was the the secret to our differentiation."

"I treated this bar with tough love from the beginning," said Goerig.

The WSU following he planned on attracting was wildly successful, almost too successful. It was standing room only from the first game on. Goerig went on to try other promotional efforts. "We tried everything... Luaus, comedy nights, toga parties, there were nights when there were just multiple bands jamming. We held a Gay Pride Week kickoff that went really well."

The one obstacle that Goerig and his staff could not quite overcome was the building itself. During the heatwave his staff had to wear towels on their heads, soaked in ice water and bring in an industrial size fan. "It was 115 degrees in the kitchen," said Goerig. During rainy season, buckets would be deployed to catch all the drips from up to 30 leaks he had to personally attempt to patch. During the winter "You would see your breath since the only source of heat in the building is a gas fireplace. We had to mount a kind of heat lamp," Goerig explained, "We were facing complete seasonal dysfunction."

Given the problems of underfinancing and the ongoing issues of the building and terms of his lease, Goerig chose to close the bar.

"I get the economic downturn hasn't helped small business. The vast majority of bars face the same kinds of cash flow seasonality. But that shouldn't be an excuse. The ones that succeed have the long term vision. They don't get caught up in the short term woes.

My lease, simply put, does not let Redline realize its long term vision. That's it. I got given a lemon and I made some lemonade I'm pretty proud of. I do not like the terms of the lease they have proposed in the past or the present."

The Redline will close at the end of September but Sept. 10 and 11 are the dates for the goodbye party with Friday being "musicians coming together" at 9 p.m for 'Bubba Beard Night', "In honor of my cook leaving" to say thank to him. If you wear a beard you get a mystery special," said Goerig.

Saturday Sept. 11 will be a 70's 80's cover band. Sept. 18 will be the final comedy night, $10 a ticket.

What will Goerig do now that his business is closing?
"I have many irons in many fires. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Redline emerge like a Phoenix somewhere. If it were to happen it would be local." He will take some time to decompress from the blood, sweat and tears and 18 hour days.

"I love building things," said Goerig, " and he believes that's what he will keep doing. He's grateful to every last person who ever came to the Redline, all the employees past and present, every local and "every new person who came to this bar. It's amazing how many lives this place has touched, even in this brief time. It doesn't matter whether I was in Maple Valley or Everett. If I was wearing the Redline shirt people would come up to me and say " I know that place, I love it there," concluded Goerig, "and that always really touched me."