Old building getting new interest

The federal courthouse building in downtown Coeur d’Alene won’t be empty for about another year, but several local groups are already eyeing it.

The city of Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai County, Lewis-Clark State College, the Coeur d’Alene School District, St. Vincent De Paul and the Fresh Start homeless services group are all interested in the historic building. The 1928 building will be empty once a new federal building opens on Hanley Avenue and U.S. Highway 95 in 2008. The federal government decides who gets it, and services for the homeless have first priority.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deals with the applications from the homeless services groups and decides which should get the building. If none is selected, the U.S. Government Services Administration steps in and chooses from the other applicants.

The Coeur d’Alene School Board discussed collaborating with the other city groups looking to use the space when it voted to apply for the 24,000 square foot building at its meeting on Monday. But federal guidelines prohibit multiple groups from occupying the building unless it’s been purchased, said Fred Zderic, realty specialist for the GSA, because different uses have different regulations to follow.

“When we give the building away, we give it away for specific public benefit uses,” Zderic said. “If it’s going for homeless (services), it all has to be used for homeless (services).”

Whichever group gets the building will need to have shown not only that it can utilize the space well but that it also has the resources to maintain the historical aspects of the building, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places 30 years ago.

“Whoever has it will have to maintain that building,” Zderic said. “There’s a lot of things that are going to come into that decision-making process.”

Benewah County purchased the federal building in St. Maries in 2003 so it could be used for multiple purposes, Zderic said.

Deciding which group gets the building means deciding which would make the best use of the building, said Bill Lesh, regional spokesman for the GSA.

“It’s basically one of those wonderfully defined terms call ‘the best public use,’ ” Lesh said.

Cyndie Hammond, regional director at Lewis-Clark State College, said the building could provide space for faculty and students, as well as administrative offices and “offices of sister institutions.”

“It would serve as an opportunity for us to collaborate in offering higher education,” Hammond said. “This opportunity was too good to pass up.”

That thought is shared by the Coeur d’Alene School District, which recently learned of the opportunity to apply for the building.

“It’s a great opportunity; it’s a good building. We have multiple intentions for it,” said Steve Briggs, the district’s business manager.

But homeless services have first priority, and St. Vincent and Fresh Start have filed letters of intent and are working on formal applications.

“We’re desperate for office space, and there’s some programs we always wanted to have that we’re toying with,” said Lynn Peterson, executive director at St. Vincent. “Nothing is set in stone.”

Gary Edwards of Fresh Start said he’d like to move the group’s headquarters from its current location on Coeur d’Alene Avenue to the federal building and possibly open a shelter or long-term care facility.

“It’s definitely needed,” Edwards said.

St. Vincent and Fresh Start have until late June and early July to submit their applications (the due date depends on when the groups filed their letters of intent to apply), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should make a decision within a couple of months.