Spokane7
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October 17, 2011 in City
Photos Then & Now: Public library
Today’s incarnation stands in place of old Sears
March 3, 1930: Sears, Roebuck & Co.’s store, less than a week old, is open at 906 W. Main Ave. in Spokane. Sears invested $750,000 in the building site and stock. The building was three stories with a full basement and was equipped with the latest combined heating-and-ventilating system.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
The first libraries in Spokane, opening in 1880 and 1883, required paid memberships. Both failed. An effort in 1891 struggled, too, and the city took over the library and housed it in City Hall. In 1904 philanthropist Andrew Carnegie paid for a dedicated library building, which was used through the Depression and two world wars. By the early 1960s, Sears, Roebuck & Co., which had opened a store at Main and Lincoln in 1930, had sold its building to the city. Dubbed the Comstock building, it became the home of the Spokane Public Library in 1964 and remained so for almost 30 years. After a 1990 library bond vote, the Comstock building came down in 1992, and the new library opened in 1994.
–Jesse Tinsley
1992 murder trial begins against sex offender 
Upthewazzu on October 17 at 8:49 a.m.
What a shame that the old Sears building was torn down. I never saw it in person, as I didn’t arrive in Spokane until 1998, but it looks beautiful. Look at all the small detail and craftsmanship in the exterior. I imagine the interior was the same. Unfortunately, Spokane has little to no respect for historical buildings. Such a shame.
The_Seer on October 17 at 9:05 a.m.
This was an Art-Deco shrine that should have been preserved. The interior was more impressive than the outer facade.
Carnegie’s buidling should have remained in public use as well, which suited the original intent. I remember when it housed the Nursing School briefly while my mother obtained her masters degree. For a good read sometime, find Carnegie’s essay titled “On Wealth.” He argues for the concentration of wealth to an elite class because only they will know how to spend it for the most social utility. You and I shouldn’t be given more because all we’ll do is buy better cuts of meat and more expensive beers and wines while he will build libraries!
The same type of snide paternalism continues to infect the wealthy. No different from “let them eat cake.”