‘I Love Downtown’ Campaign Triggers Huge Outpouring Of Support

A month and a half ago, “I Love Downtown” launched a petition drive to collect 20,000 signatures urging Nordstrom and The Bon Marche to stay in downtown Spokane.

“We’re looking very, very good,” campaign spokesperson Nancy Goodspeed of the Rockey Co. reported Tuesday.

Some 16,454 signatures have been amassed to date. “We still have lots of petitions circulating,” says Goodspeed. “Volunteers with clipboards are working in the skywalks during the lunch hour. And we continue to fax petitions out to anyone who calls or writes asking for them.”

In addition, thousands of phone calls and fax messages have poured into campaign headquarters from parties wanting their names added to the list of supporters.

Also, the “I Love Downtown” organization has received 351 letters of support from Spokane and Inland Northwest residents. Countless other downtown fans have written directly to the stores.

“The outpouring of emotion by the community is incredible,” remarks Goodspeed. Just how strongly people feel about downtown comes through in letters peppered with italics, capital letters, and exclamation points.

Newcomer Kenette Wentner writes: “One of the reasons we chose to move here was the wonderful downtown. A downtown that seemed to be improving!

“We are devastated by the possibility that the department stores may go, and with them all of downtown. We shop there! We eat there! It is my “locale”!

“Nordstrom has always been my favorite fashion store. I go to the Bon for household furnishings and men’s wear. I purposely GO there.

“I know it’s important to give the business to downtown stores. I do NOT go to the malls.

“I certainly hope Nordstrom and The Bon will consider ALL the ramifications of their decisions! And they should note that I’ll take my business elsewhere, and NEVER cross their thresholds again!!”

Lois S. Irwin of Spokane offered the stores a deal.

“Dear CEOs or Board Members of the Bon Marche and Nordstrom,” she wrote, “I am a professional with an income of $50,000.

“I have not shopped at your stores in the past. However, I believe very strongly that it is a responsibility we all have - including businesses - to take actions that protect the society we live in. Having a healthy downtown in the second-largest city in the state is of major importance.

“I pledge to do ALL my Christmas shopping in your stores if you renew your lease agreements in downtown.

“I am only one shopper, but I would be a new customer, and would urge my friends to do the same.”

Such sentiments are not confined to the Spokane community, the Inland Northwest, or even the Pacific Northwest. “Outsiders from Texas to Massachusetts have called and written imploring Nordstrom and The Bon to stay downtown,” Goodspeed says.

“Some are people who lived here once,” she says. “Others come on vacation or outings. To them, this is one place and one recreational package - the downtown Spokane shopping, the ski resorts, the lakes, the works. They don’t want downtown to die.”

But downtown retailing is at risk. To keep the two main retail anchors in place, the owners of the River Park Square complex of shops (and of this newspaper) propose to redevelop the retail center at a cost of $80 million.

The two cornerstone stores won’t stay downtown without revitalization. River Park Square can’t be redeveloped without a commitment from them. These parties hold the future of downtown Spokane in their hands.

Negotiations are continuing. “There’s a lot of activity,” Goodspeed says of the talks between the principals. “There is no deadline, or any indication when agreement might be reached.”

Goodspeed said developers “had hoped to start demolition for Phase One of the redevelopment after the first of the year. They continue to hope demolition work can get under way in that time frame, but it won’t be January 2.”

Anderson & Emami Men’s Clothiers and Eddie Bauer still occupy the block at the west end of the project that would be redeveloped in Phase One. That entire block, except for River Park Square parking garage, is to be leveled, Goodspeed says, and the Nordstrom store will be erected there - if the necessary agreements are reached.

Phase One also includes expansion of the parking structure in the block, and building the enclosed atrium mall spanning Post.

Meantime, the campaign continues, Goodspeed says. Supporters may send letters directly to: I Love Downtown, P.O. Box 5131, Spokane, WA, 99205. (Phone 326-7414, fax 326-7461.)

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel’s column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Frank Bartel The Spokesman-Review