Courthouse Could Be Renamed For Foley With The Walter F. Horan Plaza At Its South Entrance

Spokane’s federal courthouse and the plaza in front of it will almost certainly get new names later this year, honoring a pair of congressmen who together represented the area for more than half a century.

The federal courthouse would be renamed the Thomas S. Foley Federal Building and United States Courthouse under a bill introduced in Congress on Thursday.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. George Nethercutt, the Republican who ousted the former Democratic speaker in 1994. It has the support of Washington state’s eight other House members, and is expected to meet no opposition as it wends its way through Congress over the next few months.

“Tom Foley was, and continues to be, widely regarded in eastern Washington state and has left a lasting legacy,” Nethercutt said in introducing the bill.

A spokesman for Nethercutt said the two had talked earlier this week when Foley, who is now ambassador to Japan, was in Washington, D.C., for meetings.

The formal renaming ceremony would be at a time when Foley can schedule a trip back to Spokane from his diplomatic post in Tokyo, Nethercutt spokesman Ken Lisaius said.

But it wouldn’t happen until after March 6. That’s the day Foley will turn 70, which is the minimum age for renaming a federal building after a living person, under U.S. Senate rules.

The plaza at the building’s south entrance, which has recently been renovated with a new fountain and improved security features, is expected be named the “Walter F. Horan Plaza.” The Wenatchee Republican served for 22 years in the House before being ousted by Foley in 1964.

Horan, who died in 1966, was “a consummate advocate of Western interests” and helped secure money to build the courthouse when he was in Congress, Nethercutt said. His surviving relatives would be invited to the ceremony.

Local Democrats tried to have the federal building renamed for Foley last year, but ran into a protocol problem.

They asked two Democratic congressmen who had served with Foley - Reps. Norm Dicks of Bremerton and Jim McDermott of Seattle - to introduce the bill rather than Nethercutt. Traditionally, such a bill comes from the person who represents the district.

Caught by surprise by the proposal, Nethercutt said he wasn’t aware of any support in the community for changing the building’s name. The bill died in the closing days of the session while Congress struggled to pass a budget.

“Part of that was my fault because of my lack of knowledge of political experience and protocol,” County Democratic Chairman Ken Pelo said.

This year, Democrats formed a bipartisan committee that included former County GOP Chairman Rich Kuhling, who also helped manage Nethercutt’s campaigns. The group asked community and business leaders to write letters to Nethercutt.