A Fresh Start? Marketplace Expected To Move To West First

Candi Lewis snipped the picture of an apartment building from the magazine photo and pasted it on a big street map of downtown Spokane’s west side.

The slick color picture joined others of restored storefronts, bed-and-breakfast inns and smiling people that dotted the map with the hopes of the residents and property owners of a once-blighted area.

“This is what we want to see,” said Lewis. “We want to get vital businesses in this area. We want to convince people this is not a bad area of town.”

Lewis, who manages commercial property at West First and Jefferson, joined several dozen business owners and residents for an open house Friday that was part party, part preview and part wish list.

Booths set up in the ground floor office of the Commercial Building showed plans for renovations at the old Washington Water Power Co. steam plant, drawings for a “luxury townhouse” on Riverside and information on turning the area into a historic district.

Residents and business owners said the area has made great strides in the last year after Spokane police opened a community-oriented policing station. Crime decreased as drug dealers and prostitutes were chased out.

They’re anxiously awaiting the next leap forward, an announcement that the Spokane MarketPlace will move this summer to a former automobile showroom on Sprague and Jefferson.

Jackie Rappe of the marketplace said she expected the contract to be final in a few weeks, allowing the market for local growers and artisans to open by the first weekend in June. By the end of that month, it should be open on Wednesdays, plus Friday through Sunday.

The market will attract people from all over Spokane, and convince them the area is not what it was just a few short months ago, Lewis said.

Rappe said some marketplace members were unsure about the area when the move was first discussed.

“But the police told us the place had really been cleaned up, so we came down and took a look,” she said. They quickly became convinced it was the right move.

“We want to be part of a neighborhood where we can contribute to the revitalization,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Map of area