Spirit Of Cooperation Revitalizes Davenport Hotel Restoration Project

Relations between the Davenport Hotel, Washington Water Power Co. and city officials have undergone a “complete turnaround,” according to the hotel’s chief executive.

Instead of hostility and distrust, a spirit of cooperation and enthusiasm now propels efforts to clean up the utility’s oil spill and restore the historic grand hotel to its former glory, reports Ronald Wai-Choi Ng.

“We are working together very, very closely,” says the chairman of Davenport Sun International Hotels & Properties, “and we are making very good progress.”

That’s the biggest news about the Davenport.

Second is a bid by the hotel, with backing from WWP and others, to move the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, Spokane Area Economic Development Council and Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau into the Davenport. These agencies recently advertised for quarters where they could move in together and set up a one-stop Spokane Business Center.

Third is a plan to build a grand ballroom with dinner-style seating for 1,000 atop a parking garage that would be built across First Avenue from the hotel. Efforts are under way, Ng says, to expedite construction of a 400-plus car structure on the southwest corner of First and Post.

Meantime, the State Department of Ecology, WWP and the public must agree on just how to clean up the oil before all this work can get off the ground.

Tackling attitudes first, Ng says he wants the public to know the Davenport is now getting complete cooperation all around. He said when the Hong Kong-based firm first acquired the hotel, some business leaders in the community didn’t want to see the hotel restored.

But now, he says, “We hope by next June to get the major renovation under way. It will take 18 to 24 months to complete.”

Turning to the efforts to locate Spokane’s major business and economic development agencies in the Davenport, Ng says his plan is to redevelop the adjoining Pennington Hotel building from the inside out, preserving the exterior shell. That’s where the combined Spokane Business Center would go, according to a bid submitted to a task force charged with studying various proposals.

Ng says the hotel’s meeting space and conference rooms would be made available to the business groups “as needed,” eliminating the expense of owning or leasing facilities full time. “Visiting guests,” he says, “will feel the hotel is an amenity of the Spokane Business Center.”

In a letter of support, WWP Vice President Rob Fukai told the task force that the utility “believes the district is poised for a major resurgence which will greatly benefit your organizations.

“As you know, there are many new developments taking place in the area, which will greatly add to what you can offer visitors to our city. We feel it is important from a strategic point of view for this business center to be the bridge between our rich history and our richer future.

“Certainly the remodeled Pennington building, only blocks away from the new River Park Square development, and the development taking place in the Davenport Arts & Entertainment District with the renovation of the Davenport Hotel, Steam Plant Square and other projects, offers a unique opportunity for the Spokane Business Center.”

McKay bows out as Bovay president

Bovay Northwest President Gene McKay is retiring after 40 years of service to the multi-discipline industrial engineering firm.

Succeeding him as president of Spokane’s largest engineering firm is Bob Rosain, who comes from Lockewood Greene Engineers in Seattle.

McKay has been a leader in many civic and business activities, including United Way, Momentum and the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce.

Bovay Engineers of Houston established a Spokane branch in 1955. McKay joined the firm in 1957. He became president in 1976. Local employees bought the firm in 1983. Bovay became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dames & Moore of Seattle in 1993.

Mattress Land store to open

Mattress Land Inc. of Oregon plans to open its first Washington store Saturday at 13524 E. Sprague, between Target and ShopKo, in the Spokane Valley.

“We have plans for additional units in this market in the coming year,” said John Gregg, president of the Springfield-based chain.

Mattress Land has eight stores in Oregon, California and now Washington. The company carries the top brands in the bedding business - Sealy, Simmons, Spring Air and Stearns & Foster, and offers next-day delivery.

The company’s new 7,200-square-foot showroom employs five people.

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel writes a notes column each Wednesday. If you have business items of regional interest for future columns, call 459-5467 or fax 459-5482.

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