Spokane’s Steam Plant slated for $1.5 million in renovations this summer

The historic Steam Plant in downtown Spokane will undergo a $1.5 million renovation that will close Stacks restaurant and the Steam Plant Brew Pub for part of the summer.

The project includes remodeling Stacks’ kitchen, dining area and the brew pub. A new rooftop event center will be created on top of the structure that links the Steam Plant to the adjacent Seehorn Lang building. The event center will be available to rent for community events.

Stacks and the brew pub will close June 1 with a reopening date planned for next fall. Other businesses in the Steam Plant and the Seehorn Lang building will remain open during the renovation, including the Steam Plant Square Retail Shops on Lincoln Street.

The two landmark stacks that light up the Spokane skyline also will undergo maintenance, including new mortar for the brickwork.

“Since the Steam Plant restaurant opened 20 years ago, downtown Spokane has seen a renaissance,” said Latisha Hill, senior vice president of Avista Development, majority owner of the Steam Plant and Seehorn Lang building.

The rooftop event center “will be an exciting new location for Spokane to gather,” she said.

Local contractors for the project are HDG Architects and Associated Construction of Spokane.

The Steam Plant generated steam heat for downtown businesses for nearly 70 years. Avista closed the coal-burning plant in 1986 when it was no longer economically viable. The property was vacant for a decade until Avista Development and Wells & Co. formed a partnership to transform the empty building into a commercial center. Avista Development is a subsidiary of Avista Corp., the Spokane-based utility.

Both the Steam Plant and Seehorn Lang building are on the National Register of Historical Places.

Historical elements inside the Steam Plant, such as the coal bunker and the steam boilers, will remain, said Debbie Simock, an Avista spokeswoman.