Gonzaga Prep adding to wrestling building
A $6.7 million project to improve Gonzaga Preparatory School’s athletic facilities is entering its third phase this fall, with a nearly $1 million addition to the private school’s wrestling gymnasium.
According to city permit records, the 8,000-square-foot addition will be nearly 20 feet tall.
Paul Brown, development director at Gonzaga Prep, said the work was “pretty significant for the 60-year-old facility.”
“The rest of our school has been touched. The athletic facilities haven’t,” Brown said. “It’s going to be a game-changer for us in a lot of ways.”
The new wrestling room at the high school will be used for more activities than wrestling, and will include a weight room. For wrestling, the room will be able to hold four mats, allowing more wrestlers to train at once.
The first and second phases included new locker rooms and construction of what Brown called “the operational stuff,” classrooms, team rooms, offices, conference room, fitness area and weight room, which will be done this fall.
A year from now, the latest phase will be done, a complete renovation and expansion of the school’s main gym. The wrestling facilities will be below the main gym.
So far, the school has raised $5.2 million for the project, including a $1 million donation from a local donor.
Gonzaga Prep, 1224 E. Euclid Ave., is a private Catholic school founded in the basement of Gonzaga University in 1887, though the two are administered separately.
Spokane-based Garco Construction is the contractor on the design-build project.
Bike shop chain
to move north
Wheel Sport Bicycles is opening a fourth location at 9501 N. Newport Highway, in the building formerly occupied by Northgate Import Specialists.
The 3,200-square-foot building will undergo a $200,000 remodel and expansion, according to city permit records. The shop will be a retail store for the local dealer’s long-standing brands, which include Specialized, Salsa and Pivot. It also will feature a coffee shop.
“We’re branding it as a lifestyle store for the bike community and anyone else that wants to hangout,” said Craig Kent, with Wheel Sport. “As a company, we want to become more accessible and accommodating to the community and do our part to make biking less of stigma.”
Wheel Sport, which opened in 1972 in Spokane, has three other locations, on the South Hill, in Spokane Valley and on North Division. Kent said plans are to keep all three locations open. The plans for a new location follow the sale earlier this year of the 45-year-old franchise to Mark and Sarah Neupert and Nick Salisbury.
Though the store has yet to hire a contractor for the project, Kent said, they are moving “aggressively” and plan for the new location to be open for the holiday season.
Charter school leases second location
Spokane International Academy has leased a second location to house its middle school.
The SIA Middle Academy, 4224 E. Fourth Ave., supplements the school’s original location at 2706 E. Queen Ave., which continues to house its primary school. About 230 children attend fifth through eighth grades in buildings leased from the Glad Tidings Assembly of God church. About 190 attend the school’s kindergarten through third grade in the old St. Patrick’s School in Hillyard.
The charter school is authorized by Spokane Public Schools and is not affiliated with either church or any religion.
CEO Travis Franklin said the school has grown from 160 students in its first year in 2015 to more than 400 this year. The school has added grades yearly. The school has 55 employees and $5.5 million in revenue for the 2017-18 school year.
The school leases its second location for $4,200 a month. Franklin said about $150,000 in upgrades were done to the facilities.
Taco eatery erects sign, gets permit
A California-based taco chain has been issued a permit to do interior improvements in the final vacant, ground-floor retail space in downtown Spokane’s historic Bennett Block.
The sign for Chronic Tacos went up last week at 524 W. Main Ave., between the Rocky Rococo restaurant and the Carhartt store. The restaurant will have 50 seats and provide takeout.
Under the name MCW Tacos Washington LLC, Chronic Tacos plans $145,000 in improvements. The architect for the work is Portland-based Gnich Architecture Studio, which has designed interiors for other Chronic Tacos locations and 4,100 Domino’s Pizza projects nationwide.
Chronic Tacos has more than 30 locations, primarily in Southern California. Others are in Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Canada. This will be its second location in Washington, following a recent store opening in Lakewood.