After 15 years of teaching guitar, piano, drums, singing, banjo, and ukulele out of its Central District storefront, Meter Music School has closed its E Union location for good. Instruction continues at the school's Columbia City headquarters, where director Brendan Bosworth says the business is now consolidating all of its programming.
“Our building in the Central District needs major upgrades, so we made the decision to bring all of our programming over to our Columbia City location,” Bosworth said, confirming the closure to CHS Capitol Hill Seattle News. Bosworth described the school's time on E Union as a wonderful 15-year run, even as he announced the closure to current and former students.
Fire Inspection Turned Up Trouble in the Aging Building
The building itself dates to the 1900s, and according to CHS reporting, a 2026 annual fire inspection raised concerns about unpermitted or non-compliant basement wiring along with structural issues tied to earlier unpermitted work. That inspection led the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections to issue a notice of violation in July 2026, citing years-old unpermitted conversion work and a failure to obtain a change-of-use permit for operating a music institution in the space.
Meter began the city's pre-application process to address the violations, but the article reports that the costs apparently proved impractical to pursue further, and the school did not proceed with the fixes needed to stay in the building. The property's longtime owners are area real estate investors Charles Ragen and Wenjun Chen.
A Familiar Story Along Seattle's Older Commercial Strips
Meter isn't the only Central District-area tenant to run into costly building problems this year. CHS also reported that structural problems and costs tied to a 96-year-old commercial building on 15th Ave E pushed three businesses out of that property in September.
The Meter closure will leave a gap in the string of businesses along E Union just west of 23rd, an area that saw notable change in the years after the corridor between Union and Jackson grew 18 percent overall between 2000 and 2010, according to the Seattle Times. The shift will also mean changes for area families with young students who had been attending in-person lessons at the E Union site.
Where Families Can Turn Next
For the littlest musicians, Gentle Giant Jiu Jitsu in Madrona has offered to take on Meter's MiniMeter baby and toddler classes for area families who relied on the program locally. Families looking for other in-person options nearby can also consider the School of Rock chain's studio in Montlake.
Meanwhile, the Columbia City location, listed at 4435 Rainier Ave S, will now operate seven days a week to absorb the consolidated schedule. The school, established in 2011 according to its website, continues to offer private lessons running 30, 45, or 60 minutes once a week for students of all ages and levels.
