Gathering planned today at Mann Center

The Department of Defense has declared the Joe E. Mann Army Reserve Center, 4415 N. Market St., a surplus building, and now the city of Spokane and the Local Redevelopment Authority Advisory Committee needs to decide what to do with it.

Although the reserve center has been relocated to Fairchild Air Force Base, the building itself is far from empty.

It contains rooms for office space, a commercial kitchen, a computer lab, library and a six-bay shop. There also is a former medical clinic area with exam rooms, restrooms with shower facilities, and a vault. The 5.7-acre site includes parking.

Those interested in proposing an idea to the city should fill out a notice of interest, which is available on the city’s Web site, www.spokanecity.org.

The Base Relocation and Closure process is complex. LRA Advisory Committee recommendations to the City Council and the mayor this fall will go to the Department of Defense, which owns the building.

For those interested in submitting a proposal, the city is holding a networking workshop today from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook St..

Developers, owners and tenants are invited to attend to meet others with the same interests in the building, and maybe join forces in submitting notices of interest. There will be no formal presentation at the workshop, but attendees will have the opportunity to speak to others and address the group as a whole.

Depending on the project selected, the land and building could be up for public benefit transfers, sold to a business or divided and sold.

According to Dale Strom, city planner for community development, potential entities must be able to provide their own financing. He added that under federal law, any program that plans on a use for the homeless must get extra consideration, whether the use would be for a shelter, education or job training.

He imagines that there will be three or four representatives who will stand out as beneficial to the community.

“I hope it’s one that is economically viable, and I hope it’s a great value to the whole community,” he said.

Luke Tolley, a longtime resident of the northeast neighborhood and vice chairman of the LRA Advisory Committee, is hoping for something that will help develop the economy or maybe a project that will include education or a museum.

He’s heard of some ideas from folks who are interested in the property, but not too many details. He’s heard opinions from many neighbors, too.

“You get a lot of what they don’t want,” he said.

But he feels that advisory committee members will work well together to come up with a good plan for the neighborhood.

The committee includes people from the business community, education, real estate, the City Council and the homeless community.

“We’re an eclectic group that works well together and has diverse opinions,” he said.

Tolley is excited to be a part of the committee, since he has fond memories of riding by the reserve center on his bike when he was a kid and marveling at the jeeps in the parking lot.

“We’re taking what was a really great thing for the community and turning it into something better,” he said.

Notices of interest must be filed by March 9, and the city is also accepting public comments.