Sale Funds To Go To Library Board

All $301,000 from the sale of the old Manito branch library will go to the Spokane Public Library board, city officials have decided.

After the library was sold in April, members of the city’s finance office claimed a portion of the revenue, saying the land on which the old library sat belonged to the city.

During a recent meeting, library board members convinced City Finance Director Pete Fortin and others that the money should go to the board.

The money will go into the library’s capital fund, meaning it can only be used for new equipment or facility improvements.

Fortin said the library representatives proved their case by finding documents from the 1950s that showed the library paid $1,500 for the land. The original owner was the Lewis and Clark High School Playgrounds Association.

The library vacated the building at 404 E. 30th in December after opening a new South Hill branch on Perry.

The buyer of the old Manito branch, James Gimurtu, hopes to open a bistro in that building.

, DataTimes