Assistant city administrator Monisha Harrell briefed the Lynnwood City Council on efforts that are being undertaken to support the Jean Kim Hygiene Center as it prepares to close for a renovation. The efforts to get everything lined up for the renovation, as well as ensure clear communication for the concerns residents have, have been complicated by the fact that the Jean Kim Foundation lost its executive director and they’re currently looking for the replacement.
The hygiene center has initiated a search to replace its executive director after left the Jean Kim Foundation. This departure has caused the foundation’s board of directors to not receive community feedback, while also slowed down the city’s communication and the foundation’s planning around the upcoming renovation and closure. Mayor George Hurst has issued a directive to ensure that staff at the city’s Development & Business Services are prioritizing the permitting application to help ensure that the city does not become one of the challenges that the center is facing.
One of the major hurtles that have been impacted by the loss of the director is the outreach to potential community partners that would be able to take on some of the center’s services while its closed for the renovation. Because the areas that are being renovated in the hygiene center are its bathroom, showers, and other service areas it will be unable to stay open during the renovation.
More news from the Lynnwood City Council’s July 13th, 2026 meeting
Currently the city staff is communicating with members of the board, including former Lynnwood mayor Christine Frizzell, regarding the renovation along with the ensuring that the board of directors receive the concerns of the neighbors. There is hope that discussion with the board about the potential good neighbor policy will be resumed once a new executive director is hired; the board wants to ensure that people who use the the hygiene services are not villainized as part of the policy.
Hurst and Harrell also made it clear that they have been communicating with members of the board.
As for the renovation, the center has identified their primary contractor and that contractor is now looking for sub contractors that will help carry out the work. Once those sub contractors are onboard, the board of directors will have a better idea on the timeline of when the closure of the center will occur.
Until we have the timeline, it will be difficult to work with other community members to find partners that could help pick up the slack during the closure. One option that was brought up in the meeting was the Lynnwood community center across the street, which has a downstairs kitchen and bathroom with a separate entrance from the rest of the building. While Harrell stated that she was unaware of any conversations, she would follow-up to see if there have been any conversations between the two community assets.
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