Since the last Seattle Public Schools student walked out the door of Crown Hill Elementary in 1978, a mishmash of School District programs, arts and community organizations, and other businesses have made their home in the building with an uncertain future.

Now, with the Seattle School District's June 30 sale of the building to Small Faces Child Development Center, the tenants of the Crown Hill Center, as it will now be known, are looking forward to a bright future.

"The overarching goal is to make the center even more vibrant than it is today," said Catherine Weatbrook, project manager of the Crown Hill Center.

Small Faces has been using the 1919 building at 9250 14th Ave. N.W for more than 30 years. And, Weatbrook, who is also a Small Faces board member, said the acquisition of the property feels amazing.

"It's taken a lot of work, time, patience, all those things to come to this point and secure not only our future, but the future of the arts programs in the building," she said.

Since the district completely vacated the Crown Hill Elementary building about six years ago, the uses of the site have greatly expanded.

The Crown Hill Center is home to five organizations – Small Faces, ARC School of Ballet, Taj Yoga, Gitana Flamenco and Honey! I'm Home! Catering – that have leases for dedicated space in the building. A sixth organization, the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, is coming soon.

There are also 60 or so other groups that use the building at least once per month, and more that use it for yearly events, Weatbrook said.

Karelle Anthony is the co-owner of Honey! I'm Home! Catering, which has been using the center's kitchen space for almost 10 years. She said she has been lucky to be in the old Crown Hill Elementary.

"I've always felt a great feeling for the building," Anthony said. "We're part of the community up here."

Theresa Elliott, owner and director of Taj Yoga, has been in the building for four years. She said it's a terrific community, and with the west wing of the building full of movement arts people, she is like a kid in a candy store.

Over the past few years, the Crown Hill Center became a hub for independent, women-run, arts-and education-based businesses, said Lara McIntosh, who teaches regular dance classes out of the ARC space in the building.

Though new tenants are changing its complexion, the center was definitely female-centric in its past, Weatbrook said.

"It was this funny realization," she said. "We were at a tenants meeting. We look around and went, 'There are no guys at this table.'"

Due to an agreement with the city and the state during the sale, as well as the city use code for old school buildings, future tenants are likely to be arts and community organizations, which fits with what the Crown Hill Center is trying to do anyway, Weatbrook said.

"We basically agreed to keep doing what we're doing, only better," she said. "So it works out really well."

And, what they've been doing is working to turn the center into a true community arts center.

The center has an annual fall arts festival put on by the organizations that use its space. Weatbrook said she would like to see that festival expanded and more events like it at the center.

"The space has yet to become an obvious neighborhood destination for cultural arts, but it should be," said McIntosh. "There's definitely a homesteading aspect to what we've all been trying to cultivate in the Crown Hill location."

"The building is obscure," said Elliott. "So many people don't know it exists. Through this process I hope the community will become more aware and utilize the space."

The first step for the new Crown Hill Center is administration work and looking into a new operating structure, Weatbrook said. Ultimately, Small Faces will not be running the Crown Hill Center, and the organization is looking at ways to make the center community-run, she said.

Weatbrook's set of midterm goals for the center include more than $100,000 worth of work, including a new boiler, new plumbing and a new roof, that needs to be done soon on the building in order to stabilize its condition. Work on the roof is set to begin in the coming weeks.

She said it is much easer to spend money on building repairs now that Small Faces owns the center and they know they can't be asked to vacate by the school district.

Weatbrook said she would also like to expand the center's programming by bringing in additional community and arts groups.

The long-term goals for the Crown Hill Community Center are to completely restore the old building and to add space for even more community uses, she said.

Anthony said it is nice to see a big, multipurpose, kid-friendly space that won't be turned into condos. And, Maria Gitana of Gitana Flamenco said they have created an inspirational environment in the center.

"It's a nice blend of food, arts and education," Anthony said. "It's a great space, and it's only going to improve."

The acquisition of the Crown Hill Center isn't the only major change for Small Faces this summer.

Small Faces executive director Lynn Wirta, who has been with the organization since before it was in the Crown Hill Elementary building, is retiring (or graduating, as Small Faces will be explaining it to its preschoolers).

"It's really a tribute to her how far we've come with this project," Weatbrook said.

The ribbon-cutting for the new Crown Hill Center will serve as a kickoff to Wirta's retirement party at 4 p.m., Aug. 16.