Carnegie Square Development Breathes New Life Into Former Eore

When friends and acquaintances return from a weekend in Seattle or Portland, typically it’s not the big new hotels or plastic shopping malls about which they rave.

It’s some little neighborhood business enclave with a mix of different and unusual shopping and dining nooks and crannies.

Such pint-size shopping and dining experiences are sprinkled throughout Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and population centers across the country.

Now more of these micro-neighborhoods are popping up in Spokane.

The cluster around Lindaman’s cafe atop the South Grand hill was an early success.

More recently, the intersection of Pacific and Cannon in Browne’s Addition, anchored by two restaurants - The Elk (old Elk Drug) and Cannon St. Grill - has been a hit.

And now there is Carnegie Square.

For those who haven’t yet stumbled upon it, Carnegie Square is worth a special trip.

This small nugget of browsing and dining excellence boxes the compass at the intersection of First and Cedar - right next door to what remains of Skid Road.

The emergence of this cultural district has done what police couldn’t accomplish - displace many of the pushers and punks and drunks and prostitutes.

The district takes its name from the magnificent old Carnegie Library. An historical showpiece which anchors one corner of the intersection, the library was purchased by the Integrus Architecture a few years ago and restored for its new home. That set the stage for further evolution of the neighborhood.

Next on the scene came the husband-andwife historic preservation team of Ron and Julie Wells.

Ron, an architect, and Julie, an interior designer, have restored almost a dozen beautiful old hotels, apartment houses, and commercial buildings in the downtown’s west end. They bought the remaining three corners of just about the most drug-riddled intersection in the city and set about cleaning house.

First, they restored, updated, and reopened two gracious old mirror-image lodging houses fronting one whole block. Then, on another corner, they converted what once was the biggest auto dealership showroom in the state into a minimall.

Today, a sampling of the old Eldridge Buick Building’s specialty retailers include Pande Cameron, quality Oriental rugs; Spokane Tile & Design, handpainted and custom made tiles; Cravens, a wholesale coffee roaster with a retail coffee bar.

And the intersection’s featured attraction - Fitzbillies Bagel Bakery, an indoor/ outdoor bakery, salad and sandwich bar, and “lite” cafe. Great sections of window-wall slide aside opening the whole place to the fresh air.

The remaining corner of the intersection, occupied by the old New Grand Coulee Hotel, presented the biggest challenge. The problem centered on a tavern in the building.

“When we redid the Eldridge Buick Building,” says Julie Wells, “I realized the lawlessness revolving around that tavern - prostitutes, drug dealing, beatings - might make it impossible for us to change this neighborhood.

“Then, one morning when I came to work, I saw three young thugs beating up a police car. I said, ‘That’s it - I’m going to buy the building, and get rid of that tavern.’

“It’s cost us a lot. But it changed the character of the neighborhood.”

Because they kicked out the tavern, the government couldn’t approve a grant providing low-income rental subsidies for conversion of the old 104-room hotel for apartment use. It didn’t stop them, but units now must be rented out at market rates.

In place of the pestilent tavern, the Wellses installed:

Hotflash of America Antiques, a trove of clever collector-type memorabilia; La Maison Decorator Fabrics, a name that speaks for itself; and Global Folk Art, a nonprofit store that markets the handiwork of native artisans.

Filling out the ground floor are Carnegie Square Antiques, also top class; Solo Hair Design, Lee Frame Shop, sole survivor of the pre-restoration tenants; and Two Wheel Transit, which sells bikes costing thousands of dollars.

In all, the mix makes the intersection a magnet for yuppies, serious cyclists, health food fans, bagel addicts, the trendy, the fashionable, the Bohemian, the hip, the chic, the geeks.

With its upgraded historic lodging houses, its home improvements and antique shops, its neighborhood service outlets and destination dining attraction, this is a microcosm of the Davenport Arts & Entertainment District

Put together half a dozen or a dozen intersections like Carnegie Square in downtown Spokane, and you couldn’t beat people off with a stick.

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