Oil Cleanup Deal Clears Way For Hotel Renovation Owner Says Davenport To Reopen In Fall Of 1998

Putting aside a contentious lawsuit over a downtown oil spill, the owner of Spokane’s historic Davenport Hotel said Friday the property would open by the fall of 1998.

Top officials from the Davenport, Washington Water Power Co. and Metropolitan Mortgage resolved their differences after weeks of negotiations with John Clute, dean of Gonzaga University’s law school, acting as mediator.

“It is a long time in the coming,” Ronald Wai Choi Ng, chairman of Davenport Sun International, said at a news conference. “I know that there are many of you who did not believe that the three of us could sit down and talk about the issues.”

The agreement is intended to promote the hotel restoration, clean up the oil spill and settle the Davenport’s lawsuit against WWP.

The specific financial terms of the settlement were not revealed.

The state Department of Ecology in two weeks is expected to release a draft cleanup plan for the 75,000-gallon oil spill, located across First Avenue from the Davenport and Metropolitan.

WWP will have 30 days to review and comment on the plan, followed by 30 days for public comment.

The cleanup plan should be finalized by Oct. 1, said W. Les Bryan, senior vice president of WWP. He expects cleanup to be completed by the end of 1997, at the latest.

WWP will spend the fall and winter doing engineering work on the cleanup, with construction planned for the spring of 1997. The work will include excavation and possibly the building of an underground containment wall, Bryan said.

WWP will pay all costs associated with the cleanup, said Paul Redmond, WWP president.

Redmond would not detail the cleanup cost, saying only it would be in the “millions and millions of dollars.”

WWP ratepayers will pay none of the bill, he added.

Ng said the Davenport dropped its lawsuit for several reasons: WWP is committed to restore the old steam plant where the oil leak occurred, it supports building a new parking garage near the hotel, and it is willing to help secure financing for the Davenport restoration.

The final cleanup plan, Ng said, will pave the way for him to finance the project. Ng bought the hotel for $5.25 million in 1990. It has not offered lodging for more than 10 years.

The dispute began in 1993 when the Davenport and Metropolitan Mortgage learned about the spill, which leaked from WWP’s underground fuel tanks at its now-defunct steam plant. The leak occurred in April 1982.

Ng has said the contamination in the area ruined a financing package he’d prepared to renovate the Davenport. He filed a lawsuit last August seeking unspecified damages.

As part of Friday’s settlement agreement, WWP said it would pay any expenses property owners in the area incur because of regulatory requirements related to the oil spill, Redmond said.

The three companies also threw their support behind creating a local improvement district to pay for a parking garage in the area. Parking has repeatedly been cited as an obstacle to development. Redmond said WWP will pay for initial studies needed to build the garage.

Civic leaders cheered Friday’s announcement, saying it - like Nordstrom’s recent decision to remain in River Park Square - is a crucial step toward revitalizing downtown Spokane.

“I think it will have a ripple effect,” said former Spokane Mayor Sheri Barnard, founder of the Friends of the Davenport Hotel. “The Davenport Hotel stands for what makes Spokane unique in the world.”

The agreement also was applauded as a new beginning for the Davenport Arts and Entertainment District, a neighborhood of shops, galleries and restaurants envisioned around the hotel.

Renovation plans for the old steam plant, another anchor to the arts district, also were announced Friday.

Developer Ron Wells and his wife, Julie, owners of Wells and Co., said masonry work on the outside of the building just south of the railroad viaduct will begin Monday.

The company also is requesting bids for interior demolition, he said.

Though no definite plans have been made for the steam plant, Wells envisions it housing a restaurant, nightclub, and other small shops.

Old boilers, pipes and tubes will be restored, Wells said, to make the inside into a “living museum.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT? In two weeks, the state Department of Ecology is expected to release a draft plan to clean up the downtown oil spill. A final plan should be ready in October and cleanup financed by Washington Water Power Co. can then begin.