A Do-Or-Die Time For Downtown

Spokane has a choice. We can build the economic vigor of our city center, as Portland and Seattle have done. Or we can watch it go to seed, as occurred in Tacoma and Olympia.

Both outcomes are a real possibility.

Stacey Cowles, publisher of this newspaper and an advocate for major investment in downtown Spokane, put it this way: “It’s an exciting and scary time for downtown. It’s a make-or-break time.”

Why the urgency? Nordstrom and The Bon operate successful stores downtown, but need assurances that downtown will remain an environment suitable for their long-term presence. Other cities compete fiercely to land Nordstrom stores. If Nordstrom left Spokane, followed by The Bon, downtown’s remaining vigor would leave, too.

The consequences of a decayed downtown are as severe as they are unnecessary. A vacant, crime-infested core is a drain on the public treasury. A healthy core is an economic engine as well as a centerpiece for civic identity. Malls and strip malls come and go; they can’t define a town’s identity because they are all about the same.

Downtowns offer unique buildings, vistas, parks and night life, and a blend of home-grown and nationally proven retailers. Spokane’s downtown proved, in decades past, its viability as a retail center.

But the multiple property ownerships in any downtown make it tough to coordinate promotion and renovation. Success depends on voluntary cooperation, while at a mall the landlord gets what the landlord wants.

In Spokane, downtown’s future hinges on two separate initiatives, now nearing moments of decision.

A proposed business improvement district would collect special taxes from downtown owners, to pay for improved parking, marketing, beautification and security.

A proposed $80 million redevelopment project would give Nordstrom and other retailers a new home and bring back downtown’s historic role as a regional retail center. The private investment represented here makes a resounding, long-awaited statement about the commitment of area commercial interests to downtown. This newspaper’s corporate owners are among those making this commitment.

Think about what’s at stake. Picture downtown without Nordstrom or The Bon. It could happen. It’s easy to be critical. It’s harder to build. The public can help save its downtown, by getting involved early and constructively and offering suggestions that could make the plans even better as they unfold.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = John Webster/For the editorial board