Coeur d’Alene gardens plan a gone deal

Duane Hagadone no longer is interested in building a $20 million garden in downtown Coeur d’Alene because the idea can’t escape political scrutiny.

“I’ve put all the information away and forgot about it,” Hagadone said Thursday. “Since Day One I have said I’m not going to build the gardens if it’s not in the best interest of the community. I’m not going to spend that kind of money. I don’t have to. Life’s too short.”

Closing two blocks of Sherman Avenue, the main street that runs through downtown, is the crux of the controversy over Hagadone’s plan to build a memorial garden to honor his parents.

Hagadone said he doesn’t want the debate over the closure of Sherman to interfere or influence the Nov. 8 city election in which the mayor and three council seats are on the ballot. So before the first candidate forums start, Hagadone is making it clear the garden idea is dead.

Hagadone said he doesn’t see any reason to revive the plan as long as Mayor Sandi Bloem and the City Council insist that the garden proposal go to a public advisory vote. In December, Hagadone pulled his original proposal to close two blocks of Sherman because the council asked for a public vote.

He feared that the vote could divide the community and torpedo the library and public safety bonds that were to be on the February ballot.

He said he expects Bloem will win re-election against challenger and political newcomer Joseph Kunka.

“I met with her and did everything I could to convince her that the vacating of the street was not going to hurt downtown or the economy,” Hagadone said.

“But she disagreed.”

Many downtown merchants, including Bloem, feared that closing Sherman and rerouting traffic would hurt business.

Consultants hired by the city and the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association agreed. Some locals were angered by what they saw as a self-serving proposal from Coeur d’Alene’s most prominent businessman.

The 3.4-acre garden would have been built in front of Hagadone’s Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Members of the downtown association disagreed with closing Sherman, but thought the garden idea had merit. The merchant association and the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce asked Hagadone earlier this summer to revive his offer to build the garden and allow the public to give the proposal a full review.

After getting the letters from the business groups, Hagadone said he talked with the chamber about giving up its piece of downtown property across from Independence Point, where the chamber plans to build a new office and visitors center. The Sherman Avenue property was initially sold to the chamber by Hagadone Corp.

Hagadone said the chamber favored the idea but it never worked out and the chamber never researched alternative locations for its office. The chamber is now getting ready to start construction at the site.

Chamber director Jonathan Coe didn’t return phone calls Thursday.

Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin isn’t giving up hope that Hagadone might bring the garden proposal to Post Falls.

Yet Hagadone said he isn’t thinking about that option either.

After Hagadone withdrew his original proposal to close two blocks of Sherman in December, Post Falls immediately offered him the city’s 58-acre Black Bay Park along the Spokane River.

“It’s my understanding that we are still being considered,” Larkin said. “But it’s kinda on hold until the first of the year. We’re just flattered to be considered.”