GU plans to move Huetter House to nearby lot

Efforts to save the historic Huetter House, part of the Bishop White Seminary, took a step forward earlier this month when Gonzaga University filed notices to move the historic house and redevelop its existing site with a new seminary.

In a letter on March 10, a Gonzaga official told neighbors that it is moving ahead with plans for relocating the Huetter House by obtaining a conditional-use permit from the city to reuse it at a new location one lot to the east.

The plan calls for moving the Huetter House at 429 E. Sharp Ave. to a lot across Addison Street at 503 E. Sharp Ave. The house is part of the seminary facility. An existing building at 503 E. Sharp Ave., which houses a modern language program, would first be moved one lot to the east to 511 E. Sharp Ave. The house at 511 E. Sharp would be demolished.

At the same time, the Bishop White Seminary of the Catholic Diocese in Spokane is seeking a separate conditional-use permit to develop a new 21,000-square-foot seminary with dining area, dormitory rooms, chapel and administration area.

Both permits will require hearings before the city hearing examiner.

After the move, Huetter House would give GU additional office space on its two upper floors, while the elegantly styled main floor would be used for receptions, meetings and special events.

The Huetter House is named for pioneering contractor John T. Huetter, who built the Gonzaga Administration Building and other prominent buildings in the area.

Huetter, Idaho, between Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene, takes its name from Huetter’s quarry, brickyard and lumber mill that he established there in the 1890s.