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Editorial: Downtown is making history, not breaking it
The vigor and prosperity that distinguished Spokane in the early 20th century left the city an architectural legacy that is remarkable but often underappreciated.
Witness the surface parking lots that now render a dull flatness to the core-area real estate where the venerable Rookery, Mohawk and Merton buildings previously added to the character-rich skyline.
Historic preservationists lost their two-year campaign against demolition when all three office buildings tumbled between 2004 and 2006, but they have something to brighten their spirits today in the form of two promising, multimillion-dollar restoration projects, one a mere block away.
The difference between then and now, not surprisingly, is the respective property owners’ attitudes.
Banker Jack Heath and dentist George Bourekis ignored some engineers’ recommendations to tear down the 1928-vintage City Ramp Garage. With multiple levels, connected by ramps, the landmark art deco facility was the first of its kind in Spokane and so handsome when new that a Spokane Chronicle reporter wrote it “resembles a hotel more than a garage.”
Meanwhile, at 802 E. Spokane Falls Blvd., Seattle-based McKinstry was looking for a challenge and it found one. Kim Pearman-Gilman, McKinstry’s business development director in Spokane, has said the 103-year-old Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad Car Facility Building may be the least efficient building in town. What better place to demonstrate her company’s ability to achieve a remarkable reversal by making it the most efficient.
What’s so special about these projects from the community’s perspective?
For one thing, just to be materialistic about it, they represent substantial private investment and job creation in Spokane. Yes, the owners were enticed by local and federal tax incentives, but those will be offset many times over by the buildings’ lasting contributions to taxes and commerce.
Aesthetically, well-done projects enhance the city’s heritage and visual character, adding to the charm that attracts tourists and conventions and a pride factor for those of us who call the area home.
Besides, reviving historic luster and infusing it with contemporary utility is a high form of recycling.
The disappointment caused by the Rookery Block demolition notwithstanding, the city of Spokane has an enviable track record for other restoration projects – the Fox Theatre and the Steamplant Grill both have received coveted national recognition. For good reason has the National Trust for Historic Preservation selected Spokane as the site of its 2012 conference.
There are both tangible and intangible benefits to a well-run preservation program, and with a significant stock of historic structures to work with – “our great bone structure,” Pearman-Gilman calls it – there may be many more success stories to celebrate. And growing appreciation. And added recognition.
And fewer surface parking lots.