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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

City votes to tear down Broadview Dairy addition

Parks, private owner will team to ensure safety after demolition

The city-owned western addition at the former Broadview Dairy near Riverfront Park is in disrepair. Parks department officials are hoping to tear that section down. (FILE)

The Spokane Park Board on Thursday agreed to tear down the western addition to the former Broadview Dairy building, which sits mostly on land it bought to expand Riverfront Park.

The board voted 7-1 to approve a $297,000 contract with Talisman Construction to demolish the addition. Although most of the building is on park land, a portion of it is on land owned by the Huckleberry Bay Co., a real estate holding company.

Alicia Barbieri, commercial and development manager for Goodale and Barbieri, which manages the Huckleberry Bay property, said the entire western addition is owned by the city, even the portion that sits on private land. She said Huckleberry Bay, which is owned and operated by some members of the Barbieri family, supports the removal.

Park Director Leroy Eadie said that because the city is initiating the structure’s removal, city attorneys believe that the city should pay the full cost to remove the addition and ensure that the remaining wall is stable.

The length of the addition on city land is 145 feet, compared to 23 feet on private property, Eadie said.

Huckleberry Bay will reface the side with brick to match the building’s exterior, Barbieri said.

The Broadview Dairy was built in 1910. The addition that will be torn down was built in 1949 after the dairy was taken over by Carnation Dairy, Eadie said.

Park officials don’t have plans for the land but worry about the liability posed by the deteriorating building. Two years ago, the city paid a consultant about $190,000 after he was injured when he fell from a ladder used to enter the building. The consultant was bidding on a contract to evaluate hazardous materials in the dairy.

The land was purchased through property taxes approved by voters in 1999. It was envisioned as the site of the Mobius Science Center, but after years of negotiations the museum opted to locate downtown in the former J.C. Penney building, which is owned by the Cowles Co., owner of The Spokesman-Review.

Demolition will start in September and will take about two months to complete, Eadie said.