Spokane Club Acquires Chamber Building

The historic downtown building which has housed the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce since the early 1930s has been sold.

The Spokane Club announced Friday that it plans to buy its next door neighbor’s building as the chamber prepares to move.

Both organizations are on West Riverside near the intersection with Monroe.

The chamber announced in March that it would purchase the former WestOne Building at 9 N. Post and move in with the Spokane Area Economic Development Council and Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Spokane Club President Priscilla Gilkey said the club’s board of trustees has not decided what will be done with the additional 21,000 square feet of space it will acquire.

One possibility, she said, is to move the Spokane Club’s administrative offices into the chamber building. Another is to move the club’s child-care center into the new building.

“Ownership of the chamber building does allow for further growth,” Gilkey said, adding that architects already are exploring ways that the two buildings could be joined.

The chamber represents more than 2,200 Spokane area businesses. Plans have been in the works for two years for the chamber to move in with the EDC and CVB.

The chamber will continue to occupy its building until its offices in the WestOne building are renovated. The chamber is scheduled to take possession of the building July 1, pending a vote of its board of trustees.

“The chamber’s plans to develop a Spokane Regional Business Center prompted the sale,” said Rich Hadley, president of the chamber. “More space is needed to accommodate the needs of the chamber, EDC and CVB as we co-locate.”

The Spokane Club, at 1002 W. Riverside is a private athletic and social club with a membership of 3,200. It was founded in 1890 and has been in its current location since 1910. The latest addition to the club, a terrace dining area facing Riverside, opened May 1.

, DataTimes