Convention Center Alternative Offered Architect Says His Plan Would Be Cheaper

An architect who owns land in downtown Spokane proposed on Monday an alternative expansion of the Spokane Convention Center that he said would cost $20 million less than the current proposal.

Glen Cloninger, who owns land south and east of the Opera House and Convention Center, said his plan is a better use of money than the expansion proposal approved two years ago.

Cloninger made his presentation to Facilities 2000, an advisory group formed this year to support expansion of the convention center.

The group’s response to Cloninger was, in short: Great idea but come back with better data to support your claims.

Earlier this year, Facilities 2000 decided to ask county voters next spring to approve an $85 million expansion of the convention center, originally constructed in the 1970s.

Expanding the convention center would be covered largely by about $85 million in sales taxes to be refunded to the county and city by the state over the next 20 years.

Voters here, however, will be asked to extend two taxes that currently support the operation of public facilities like the Arena and convention center.

In addition, next spring’s election may ask voters to change the way public facilities in the city and county are managed.

During an hourlong visit Monday, Cloninger told Facilities 2000 his project avoids the high costs associated with an expansion plan that the city approved two years ago.

That plan, by a Seattle firm and Integrus Architects of Spokane, would involve construction of a parking garage and an exhibit hall underground.

“You would see major savings by not using that Dagwood Sandwich approach on this expansion,” Cloninger told the group Monday.

The Integrus plan was formally approved two years ago after a public call for bids.

SEACAB, the city board that manages and runs the convention center, has said it favors the Integrus plan but will consider other options before making a final recommendation to the City Council.

The Integrus plan, on the site directly south of the current convention center, would cost about $108 million if it’s constructed in the year 2002, according to Cloninger.

Both the Integrus plan and Cloninger’s would create an extra 240,000 square feet of space and another 800 parking spots.

An expanded convention center will generate economic activity, according to the backers of either plan.

Cloninger’s proposal would stretch over two blocks - on the Integrus site and one block due east.

He would also benefit economically from either plan, since he and partners own most of the property directly south of the Convention Center.

He’s acquired that land with his partners over the past 30 years for a commercial development, he said Monday.

Unlike the Integrus design, his plan combines retail offices and residential buildings into the proposal, benefitting downtown through multiple uses, Cloninger said.

His project would total about $86 million, he said. Its savings would stem from avoiding underground construction and because property values on his site are significantly lower than the Integrus site.

But two members of the group said they felt Cloninger hadn’t provided a detailed analysis of his proposal.

“I’m not sure we’ve really got enough solid information to make any decisions on this,” said Tyrus Tenold, Sports, Entertainment, Arts and Conventions Advisory Board chairman and one of 15 members of Facilities 2000.

Cloninger then suggested the group should seek $50,000 from the city and county to study his project in depth.

But Facility 2000 members didn’t agree that public money should be spent that way.

Group chairman Shaun Cross told Cloninger his proposal would be referred to a subcommittee studying the impact of the convention center expansion on downtown Spokane.

That subcommittee will likely ask Cloninger for additional information to back his cost estimates, Tenold said.

Whichever plan is backed, Facilities 2000 will make a recommendation to the Spokane City Council and to county commissioners.

City and county officials must place the measure on the ballot for voter approval.

In order to sweeten the ballot for voters outside the city, the ballot measure will set aside a yet-undecided amount for new projects in the Spokane Valley.

Facilities 2000 is reviewing three options - expanding the Interstate Fairgrounds, constructing a new Valley sports complex or underwriting development of Mirabeau Point - a nonprofit cultural and community park on the former site of Walk in the Wild Zoo.