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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Moscow considers Federal Building for police department

By Garrett Cabeza Moscow-Pullman Daily News

The city of Moscow has had “preliminary” discussions with officials at Gritman Medical Center in regards to purchasing the Federal Building for use as a potential police station and for other city office space, City Supervisor Gary Riedner told City Council members Monday night.

Gritman leases the Federal Building, located at 220 E. Fifth St., to tenants such as the U.S. Postal Service, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and, until recently, several Latah County offices, which were moved to the Latah County Annex on Almon Street.

Riedner said the building is appealing to the city because of its downtown location and east-west and north-south access for police vehicles to navigate.

The Federal Building is 44,000 square feet, 11,000 square feet of which is leased to the Postal Service. The police department requires about 15,000 square feet, Riedner said.

“We have just begun preliminary discussions with Gritman Medical Center,” Riedner said. “We’re very happy to be able to meet with them but it’s still very preliminary.”

Riedner said as with any acquisition, discussions need to be had regarding timelines, remodeling costs, structural integrity of the building and so on.

He said the city is retaining an architecture firm to assist the city team in assessing the building in order to determine if it is adequate for city needs. The assessment is anticipated to be complete in a month or so, Riedner said.

“The choice is pretty clear from a staff perspective that the game has changed a little bit,” Riedner said. “Do you spend $6 million or thereabouts on a single-use police facility that is four or five blocks from the downtown core or should we at least investigate the potential for the paying of a building that not only could house the police facility but also could meet the city’s office needs over the next couple of decades?”

Besides a police facility, the additional space in the Federal Building could house the city’s Community Development and Engineering offices, which are located at the Paul Mann Building in the City Hall parking lot. The Paul Mann Building is inadequate in size and is being assessed for failing structural integrity, Riedner said. The Information Systems office would be another potential occupant of the Federal Building, he said. It is temporarily located at the Eggan Youth Center on D Street.

Discussions between Gritman Medical Center and Moscow will take place over the next several months and if it is determined that the city’s acquisition of the property would serve the community and the hospital’s needs, a proposal will be brought forward to the Gritman Board of Directors and the Moscow City Council, according to a city press release.

The release said it is anticipated that to purchase the building, the city would use public funding through a $10 million general obligation bond election in the spring of 2018.

The proposed bond would also help pay for street improvements, City Shop facility improvements, park development, fire trucks, downtown infrastructure improvements and the Moscow Recycling Center and yard waste drop-off relocation.

If the bond passes with at least two-thirds majority vote, the purchase of the Federal Building would be finalized in the fall of 2018. No changes to existing lease agreements would be considered until the end of 2018 or early 2019, the release said.

The general obligation bond was scheduled to be voted on this spring but Riedner told City Council members Monday night that city staff’s recommendation is to delay the bond election until 2018 to allow time to explore the potential Federal Building acquisition to meet the police department and other city facility needs.