Video Company Buys Former Greenacres Fire Station

The owner of a Spokane video production business plans to turn the former Greenacres fire station into a filming and editing studio.

Gene Colburn, owner of Northwest Video Systems, said he chose the building at Appleway and Michigan because of its location and its large garage, which has high ceilings and good lighting control.

Colburn purchased the 4,000-square foot building from Valley Fire District 1 for $135,000. The property had been assessed a couple times, with values ranging from about $145,000 to $200,000, Assistant Fire Chief Karl Bold said.

The building has been vacant since last February, when the fire district opened a new Station No. 3 on Harvard Road.

Colburn said he plans to build a filming studio in the old fire station’s garage area, where fire trucks once were parked.

Northwest Video’s present building at 2614 N. Monroe is smaller and doesn’t have a filming studio.

“Without studio space, we’ve lost business in the past,” said Colburn, a Valley resident who also wanted to work closer to home.

Colburn’s company creates promotional, training and marketing videos for businesses. It also edits and duplicates videos. Its clients include Sacred Heart Medical Center, Johnson Matthey Electronics and Oxyfresh Worldwide Inc., among others.

Valley Fire District had been trying to sell or lease the old Greenacres station for about six months.

Fire district officials accepted the offer because they felt the higher assessment was inflated and because Colburn agreed to pay for and pursue a zone change on his own, Bold said.

The property is currently zoned residential, although it is surrounded by businesses.

Colburn also may be required to remove a fuel tank buried on the property, Bold said.

Colburn said he hopes to move into the building sometime this summer.

He currently has two employees, but said he might add more after the move.

, DataTimes