Snags Delay Opening of Steam Plant
Work progressing on project, but debut pushed back until fall
The Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington/Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
July 25th, 1998
By: Oliver Staley, Staff writer
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In the vast, cathedral-like space of Steam Plant Square on Friday, welders worked on a metal rail to prevent future shoppers from tumbling into an old boiler.
Elsewhere, electricians ran wires and carpenters hammered nails as a team of workers scrambled to turn a grimy, industrial relic into a shopping, office and entertainment center.
The challenges inherent to such a conversion means Steam Plant Square's opening, first scheduled for spring, then this summer, has been pushed back to November, developers said Friday.
"We would have liked to make it faster," said Ron Wells of property managers Wells and Co., which is developing the project with site owner Washington Water Power. "It would have been better (to open on time), but there are just so many complications and variables."
However, an end is in sight, Wells said, and the developers plan to begin announcing tenants, including an upscale restaurant to anchor the project, in approximately three weeks.
Ultimately the project, which sits on the block south of the Davenport Hotel between First and Second avenues, will have around 20 tenants, ranging from small offices to taverns and boutiques, said Kim Pearman-Gilman, who is overseeing the project for WWP.
The developers have high hopes that the uniqueness of the converted steam plant and the mix of shops and restaurants will make it a success and an important factor in the revival of Spokane's downtown.
"It will be marketed in such a way that it will bring you here to see it, then you'll bring yourself back," Pearman-Gilman said. "And retail will have to be part of that. The building can't do it on its own."
According to Wells and Pearman-Gilman, the delays stem from expanding the scope of the development and securing the necessary permissions to alter a designated historical landmark.
Originally planned as just a restoration and modification of WWP's steam plant building, the project has grown to encompass the Seehorn building on Lincoln Street and a new building in between to bridge the two.
"Basically, we went from one building and 34,000 square feet to three buildings and 80,000 square feet, Pearman-Gilman said.
Any modification of the exterior needs approval from local, state and federal preservation offices, a process that can take from 90 to 120 days, Wells said.
The process takes time in part because the project's developers are seeking both local and federal tax credits for the renovation, a process which requires a thorough examination of any proposed changes to the site, said Teresa Brum, the Spokane City-County Historic Preservation Officer.
The project has received all the necessary approvals save one, Wells said. That concerns a glass atrium proposed for the roof of a courtyard building between the Seehorn and Steam Plant buildings, a proposed site for the restaurant.
"The tenants that are the most likely candidates for that space all think that's the best idea for that space and so did we," Wells said. "The state office in Olympia is not as favorably inclined and now it's on its way to Washington. It's up to the feds.
Wells said waiting for permission on the atrium is typical of the sort of delays that have bedeviled Steam Plant Square.
"We have essentially stopped work on this part of the building," he said.
One element of the Steam Park Square project that is on schedule is far beneath the ground: WWP's cleanup of an estimated 75,000 gallons of oil that spilled from underground storage tanks beneath the steam plant site.
The $15 million cleanup, which may take up to 15 years, is ahead of schedule, according to Patti Carter, an environmental scientist with the state Department of Ecology.
"They've been very responsive to Ecology and worked very well with us," Carter said.
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