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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Trees come down, buildings go up


The Miller family, from right, Penny and Joe Miller, son Kevin, grandson Nick and son Mark have operated Miller's Fine Foods in Spirit Lake for 34 years. They just broke ground on a new, larger store. It will be called Miller's Harvest Foods. 
 (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Nils Rosdahl Correspondent

In North Idaho, when a new building grows, some old trees will fall. This is a legitimate concern for people who see the landscape changing along Highway 95 in the north end of Coeur d’Alene.

Some trees have been cleared from the previously serene entry into the Hecla grounds in the northwest corner of Highway 95 and Hanley Avenue. Hecla gradually has been selling pieces of its original campus, and new commercial buildings are replacing trees and landscaping.

Rising at the corner is the commercial division building for Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty. The 12,000-square-foot, L-shaped, prairie-style facility should be complete by March. About 20 employees will move from their spaces at 2000 Northwest Boulevard, and residential sales employees will replace them from the headquarters building next door.

The company started as Idaho Realty Center in Post Falls in 1973 and later became Schneidmiller Realty under Gary Schneidmiller. It affiliated with Coldwell Banker in 1983 and moved to Coeur d’Alene. A Post Falls office was added in 2003. The company now has more than 210 agents and employees in the region.

Miller Harvest Foods to expand

The size of the place will quadruple and the number of employees will nearly double as Miller’s Family Foods becomes Miller’s Harvest Foods in Spirit Lake.

Four generations of the Joe Miller family were present Wednesday for the groundbreaking behind the existing store at 515 S. Fifth Ave. The 22,000-square-foot store should open in mid-January with about 50 employees, the second biggest employer in town next to the school district. All areas will expand and a sit-down-service deli will be added.

Joe Miller Sr. started the family business in Cataldo in the 1940s. His son Joe, grandsons Kevin and Mark and extended family run the place. Harvest Foods will be added to the name to take advantage of food-supplier-group advertising.

Cheesecake Café opens Nov. 1

At the next intersection to the north, America’s Cheesecake Café is under construction in the northwest corner of Highway 95 and Canfield Avenue. The 6,540-square-foot restaurant is set to open Nov. 1 just south of Olive Garden.

Not affiliated with the Cheesecake Factory restaurants, the upscale but casual café will offer more than 150 items for lunch, brunch and dinner. It also will have bakery items, beer and wine with a patio and garden wall.

Theater impact at $4 million

With its budget increasing each year and bringing an average 822 people to each show, the Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s area impact this season was nearly $4 million. The National Endowment for the Arts economic formula reflects what people spend when they come to town for entertainment, according to CST spokesman David Hollingshead.

The CST season attendance total was 30,417, with an average of 991 a show for “Beauty and the Beast.” As usual, the attendance grew for each show as word spread. “Some Enchanted Evening” started the season averaging 654, followed by “Guys & Dolls” at 763 and “Footloose” at 861. The North Idaho College auditorium holds 1,178. This year’s attendance was second to 2003 when red-hot “Chicago” and always popular “Fiddler on the Roof” boosted the season total to 34,000. The CST company of 104 includes talent, musicians, techies, ushers and staff. Finishing its 38th season as Idaho’s oldest professional performing arts organization, CST moved from its Lake City Playhouse location (still active) to NIC in 1980 with now Coeur d’Alene residents Ellen Travolta and Jack Bannon starring in “Company.”

Tidbit gallery

•Mullan Avenue connecting Northwest Boulevard and North Idaho College finally has the center outbound lane with a left-turn option to ease the bottleneck after a college event. However, the curves aren’t marked on the pavement and too many drivers shift lanes in the middle of the turn. Oops.

•Some neighborhoods are becoming littered with “permanent” yard/garage sale signs. The city needs complaints to get the signs taken down. If a garage/yard sale is perpetual, the owner needs a home-occupied-business permit, but someone has to complain first.

•Yikes. The summer is nearly over with the college students back and the fair is this week. Don’t forget the Parade of Homes Friday through Sunday.