There’s a ping pong table now located on City Hall’s Red Room – the space just off the plaza level that has the water jet fountain. About a year ago, I was touring Northeastern University’s new Seattle campus when I came across one of their ping pong tables. I began playing and had such a good time I thought it would be worth sharing with the public. I asked the University to consider selling the City one of their ping pong tables for a dollar. And, to my surprise, they said yes!
The idea was to allow anyone to play and now they can by signing up at the security desk on the main floor of City Hall. They’ll even be provided paddles and balls if needed.
Tayloe Washburn, Northeastern’s Seattle Graduate Campus Dean and CEO, plays Councilmember Licata (on the right). It’s not whether one wins, it’s how one plays the game.
Stephanie Pure used to be a legislative aide to former Councilmember Peter Stenbrueck and now serves as Senior Director of Business and Community Relations at Northeastern. Stephanie was instrumental in persuding Northeastern to sell us the ping pong table.
Recently, Stephanie and a colleague were headed for some sort of lunchtime presentation at City Hall when they ran into two City employees avidly playing ping pong in the Red Room. When the employees learned Stephanie and her colleague work at Northeastern, they thanked them profusely for donating the table. The players recalled having once participated in a modest table tennis league back in the day, when the old Public Safety Building was still standing. Apparently, the police department had a couple of tables in their basement.
When the building was demolished in 2005, the ping pong league was no more…until they discovered the Red Room ping pong table! The players – one now works in the City Clerk’s Office and one in the police department – said they’ve witnessed first hand how this one ping pong table brings employees together from different departments to create a whole new level of camaraderie.
So, why not come on down to City Hall and enjoy a round or two of ping pong? You don’t even have to work for the City.
Keep in touch…
- Subscribe to my Urban Politics email newsletter.
- Subscribe to my blog.
- Like me on Facebook.
- Follow me on Twitter.