Bellevue, WA school scrambles for prom venue after Columbia Tower Club closure
BELLEVUE, Wash. - It’s the night many high school students look forward to, but instead of picking out corsages, students at Bellevue’s international school are hunting for a new venue because their prom is now in jeopardy, and the clock is ticking to find a backup.
The students were scheduled to have their prom at the Columbia Tower Club on June 6, but the company recently announced that it is closing its doors on Apr. 30.
"I was just devastated," Spencer Jarrard, International School’s ASB Senior Class Secretary said. Just last week, the Columbia Tower Club announced that, after four decades, it will close on Apr. 30. This means the International School now has to find a new venue for their prom which is just two months away.
Spencer Jarrard, International School’s ASB Senior Class Secretary
What they're saying:
"We’re scrambling," International School’s ASB Executive Vice President and Senior Jackson Novotny said. The school is grades 6–12. The senior class consists of 70 kids, and they’ve been fundraising for their prom for six years.
"It feels like all that time we spent together, all that time spent raising money, might have been for nothing because we have no venue now," Jarrard said. He adds, they’ve reached out to more than 17 venues, but they’re all booked.
Columbia Tower Club closure announcement
"We’ve kind of had bad luck this year when it comes to our dances and Homecoming. In the fall, we had a power outage in the Pacific Northwest and that got canceled because there was no power here at school. Then, our last dance got canceled as well for some other reason, so it’s just been a string of bad luck for us this year," Novotny said.
International School’s ASB Executive Vice President and Senior Jackson Novotny
"Business is business, but we want them to know that our community, our school are the kind of people being affected by the situation," Jarrard said.
They told FOX 13 they’ve worked hard to get to this point and having prom is a high school dream. "To not have it would be brutal," Novotny said.
What you can do:
They add, the class chose the Columbia Tower Club to try and top last year’s prom at the Space Needle. While the club is refunding the school’s deposit, the search for a new space is on. If you know of a venue available on May 30, or June 5 or 6, the school wants to hear from you.
International School Bellevue
FOX 13 did reach out to the Columbia Tower Club to find out how many other events were impacted by this sudden closure, but we are still waiting to hear back.
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