The Paradox in the Press
Many people who have enjoyed The Paradox over the years may not be aware of the long history and behind the scenes details of the all ages venue in addition to having questions about the future of The Paradox. This press release is intended to help clarify the past, present, and future of The Paradox.
In 1985 Seattle enacted the Teen Dance Ordinance (TDO), which put tough restrictions on underage concerts and dance clubs. As the years progressed, every all-ages concert venue in the city closed down until there was nothing left.
We started Mars Hill Church in 1996. In 1998 the leaders of our then little church dug up the TDO and met with an attorney to see if there was any way we could serve the all-ages scene. We discovered that there was a loophole of sorts in the TDO that stated we could do shows if we were a 501(c)3 religious nonprofit—which our church was.
So, we decided to begin searching for a place where we could host concerts in hopes of opening up the only all-ages venue in Seattle. We wanted to be near the University of Washington, so we spent many months trying to find a space. Finally, an old theater in the University District went up for sale. We could not afford the mortgage, but one of our pastors, Lief, who ran a construction company and volunteered his time to the church, took a financial risk and purchased the theater. We put months of work into the run-down old building. It had not been occupied for many years and had been essentially destroyed by water damage from a leaky roof. Fans of the all-ages scene also put in thousands of hours of volunteer time. Along with Lief, some generous people in the church donated a great deal of money to bring the theater up to code and get it ready for shows. We took a vote in a church service and the people voted to call it The Paradox. In 1999 we opened The Paradox and began hosting concerts as the only all-ages venue in Seattle.
However, like most all-ages venues, we discovered that the only real money in concerts is in the food and especially the alcohol sales. Since we were all-ages and did not have a kitchen, we did not have any way of keeping The Paradox financially viable. Within a few years we were losing quite a bit of money, which the church made up for. Then, in 2002, the TDO was lifted. We were thrilled and believed it was the right thing to do. But it also meant that there was soon a resurgence of all-ages shows and clubs, like the Vera Project. The result was that we lost even more money and the church ate almost $100,000 that year, which was too much to continue bearing.
During this time Mars Hill Church grew very rapidly. In 2003 we moved into a much larger facility we had purchased and renovated in Ballard. We moved The Paradox concerts to that building to save us money and allow us to continue doing shows. The new facility had a room that fit maybe a few hundred people, which worked well for Paradox shows. To get that space ready we had to bring it up to code, install a sound system, and absorb some other financial costs. To kick off the shows at the new location, a business leader from the church donated $5,000 to allow many of the first shows in the new space to be free.
To date, The Paradox has run over 750 all-ages shows with an average of about 100 fans per show. Our intent with the Paradox has never been to preach at the fans and bands or to do anything overtly evangelistic to try and make them Christians. Many of our best volunteers are not Christians and almost all of the people in the bands that play at The Paradox are not Christians. Our entire hope with The Paradox has always been to simply love the city and provide teens with a safe, friendly environment to see their favorite bands play.
To accommodate the continued growth of our church we have since moved to four parts of the city. Our offices and church services are now scattered between West Seattle, Ballard, Shoreline, and Wedgwood. Some of our new locations have incredible spaces for shows and we have possible venue space in West Seattle (rooms for 1,000, 300, and 100, plus an industrial kitchen for a restaurant), Ballard (rooms for 1,300 and the current Paradox space for 300), and Wedgwood (a room for 300). We are also searching for a building to buy in Shoreline that could be used for shows in addition to church events.
All of this change in the church also led to a discussion about what to do with The Paradox. Two big questions arose. First, with so many young promoters trying to do all-ages shows, should we just shut down The Paradox and let the other promoters use our various spaces throughout the city? Second, if we do decide to continue doing shows, should we also expand them to our other new locations around the city?
With all of this in mind, we are trying to figure out what the best thing is for us to do in the next season. The problem is that concerts at The Paradox are booked up as much as six months in advance. So, we will finish the concerts that have been booked for the remainder of the year. After that we are putting Paradox concerts on indefinite hiatus while we decide what to do next. Proceeds from the remaining shows will go toward helping one of our most devoted volunteers, Alicia Blake, raise monies to help her spin off and launch her own production company, Make Believe, as an expression of our support and gratitude to her and those working with her. We invited her and other key volunteers to help us determine the future of The Paradox but some of them declined in favor of opening their own company. We have offered to assist them with such things as getting their business license and insurance as we have been the legal entity running the Paradox since we opened it in 1999.
For those who may be concerned, we assure you that we have no intent of trying to turn the Paradox into a Christian club of sorts if in fact we decide to start doing shows again some day. Lastly, we have had nothing but a positive experience with The Paradox. The fans, volunteers, and bands have been very great to work with and we want to express our deep gratitude for the wonderful experience The Paradox has been for us.
Many thanks,
Mars Hill Church
