Theno's Dairy

Hundreds and hundreds of kids and families have sat on this cow eating their ice cream.

Notice the incongruency of the two buildings.

Brian Lutz, the Redmond author of The Sledgehammer Version 2. blog recently posted an interesting story about Redmond's locally famous and historic Theno's Dairy. I asked Brian for additional information on the family business that is known for it's yummy ice cream and sherbet and fresh milk. I wasn't sure if the new huge Meta Church, Washington Cathedral owned the land or not.

Brian said "from what I've read, [the church] has pedged to allow Theno's to continue to operate for as long as the Bloor family wishes to do so."

In 2005, Washington Cathedral tried to get the site rezoned for commercial use with the possibility of putting in a strip mall shopping development that would have included a new Theno’s on the corner. An informative Seattle Times article on proposed land use can be found here.

I followed the land use Master Plan Application and Annexation proposals and vaguely remember the Planning Commission deciding against the 5 acre (or was it 10 acres?) development. Most decided a strip mall would be incompatible with the surrounding agricultural land. An influencial neighborhood north of Washington Cathedral held several meetings (I attended one) to organize against the church's plans. Their primary complaint was traffic and congestion at the 124th Street & RED-WOOD intersection. I remember the then Mayor Rosemary Ives suggesting that a small "Farmers Market" would be more appropriate. Environmentalists had concern about impacts to the health of a Class 2 stream.

If anyone has more current information about the status of "our" historic and cultural landmark please comment. Probably, the best source of information is from the children who woolf down the ice cream!

Customer reviews of Theno's Dairy (and their location.)

Brian Lutz is author of The Sledgehammer V 2.0

Photos of Washington Cathedral Grand Opening with Mayor John Marchione. (Photos are available for purchase online)