Jack and Dan’s approved for historic registry

One of Spokane’s most revered taverns, where beer has flowed reliably since 1933, has been named to the Spokane Register of Historic Places.

Jack and Dan’s Bar and Grill, a North Side hangout well known to Gonzaga University students and sports fans alike, won the listing in a unanimous vote of the City Council Monday night.

Two other Spokane homes were placed on the register: the Marguerite Motie House at 614 W. 13th Ave. and the Charles and Frances Richardson House at 1226 N. Summit Blvd.

The 1910 Motie House was built in the Craftsman style and was home to the first and longest-reigning Miss Spokane. The 1906 Richardson House represents a well-executed example of high-style American Foursquare architecture. It was designed by noted architect W.W. Hyslop.

Jack and Dan’s becomes the first watering hole in the city to win such a distinction, putting it in league with old blue-blood haunts like Patsy Clark’s Mansion and the Davenport Hotel.

For owners Jack Stockton and Jeff Condill, the listing came only after some officials questioned the historic value of putting a working-class tavern on the historic register.

In September, the city-county Historic Landmarks Commission sent Stockton out for more research to show that the building was historically significant despite a number of alterations over its 96-year history.

On Monday, Councilman Bob Apple again questioned the establishment’s historical value. He said its early owner, Joey August, had financed taverns across the city as part of a beer distributorship.

But August also was renowned as Gonzaga’s boxing coach in the years before boxing was stopped at Gonzaga in 1952.

Stockton bought the tavern in 1961 with then-partner Dan Crowley. He had previously explained how the watering hole became a dependable part of the life near the university and its working-class neighborhood. His son, former NBA All-Star and GU standout John Stockton, appeared with his father at last September’s hearing before the landmarks commission.

Whitworth University Professor Arlin Migliazzo, a member of the landmarks commission, told the council Monday that the commission’s recommendation to list Jack and Dan’s stemmed largely from its association with August as well as its pivotal place in the neighborhood at Sharp and Hamilton.

The tavern for years shared space with the former University Pharmacy, and the building underwent alterations. Some questioned whether a 1952 addition had harmed the building’s historic character, even though the addition meets the legal standard for historic buildings of being at least 50 years old.

Jack and Dan’s took over the pharmacy space and expanded their operation in 2004. Last year, the establishment was named one of the top 25 sports bars in the country by Sports Illustrated.

In other business, the council approved a resolution accepting right-of-way dedication for completion of Barnes Road in conjunction with the Windhaven residential development in the North Indian Trail Neighborhood.

This Monday, the council is expected to consider another resolution calling for construction of Barnes Road as a new access route between Indian Trail and Five Mile Prairie. Half of the road project is being financed with private developer money. The city and Spokane County will each contribute 25 percent to the cost of construction.