The Dirt: Evans Brothers cafe, High Tide Lobster Bar open in Wonder Building

The Wonder Building on the north side of the Spokane River continues to fill up.

On Friday, the Evans Brothers cafe and High Tide Lobster Bar opened, joining Bean & Pie, a Coeur d’Alene-based pie bakery with limited hours at the renovated bread factory, 835 N. Post St.

Beginning Monday, Evans Brothers will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The lobster sandwich restaurant will be open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Bean & Pie will be open Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

This coming Friday, High Tide Lobster Bar will have a grand opening at 6 p.m. with live music. Bean & Pie will be there taking Thanksgiving orders.

Rick and Randy Evans opened their Sandpoint-based coffee roasting business 10 years ago with their first roast, Chair Six. In 2011, they opened their coffee house in Sandpoint. Two years ago, they opened a location in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

Chad White is the local chef behind the lobster bar. He also owns Zona Blanca, a ceviche counter, and TT’s Old Iron Brewery and Barbecue in Spokane Valley.

Kim Deater, spokeswoman for the Wonder Building, said the building is getting filled up and negotiations are ongoing to lease the remaining space.

“There’s a ton of stuff still in the works,” she said.

In the spring, Deater said there will be a farmer’s market on the first floor’s open space and adjoining alley.

The 95,000-square-foot bakery building, which was added to the Spokane Register of Historic Places in 2018, currently houses Rover, a Seattle-based dogsitting and walking startup; Parametrix, a Seattle-based engineering company that largely focuses on public infrastructure; and HDR, an engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services company with more than 200 offices around the world.

The three-story building is formally known as the Spokane-Continental Bakery Building, a complex of four buildings erected beginning in 1909. The building’s $15 million renovation was completed this year. – N.D.

Metals Fabrication Co. adding new building to operations

Metals Fabrication Co. is adding a new building to its existing steel fabrication campus in Airway Heights.

The company is building a 29,240-square-foot manufacturing facility to house welding and fitment equipment, along with materials receiving, storage and shipping area for completed steel elements at 2524 S. Hayford Road, according to an environmental review filed with the state Department of Ecology.

The new facility should be operational by summer 2020 and will be staffed by current employees, according to the review.

Spokane-based Garco Construction is the project contractor.

Metals Fabrication currently has 140 employees in Airway Heights. The more than 13-acre campus contains three metal fabricating and warehouse buildings totaling 91,200 square feet and one 5,100-square-foot office building.

Mark Weaver founded Metals Fabrication Co. in 1966. The family-owned and -operated company is now operated by his children, Todd Weaver and Sara Weaver-Lundberg.

Workers at the facility fabricated more than 14,000 tons of structural steel in 2018 and are on track to produce even more this year, according to the company’s website.

Metals Fabrication provided steel to several local projects, including at Gonzaga University, Fairchild Air Force Base, Sacred Heart Medical Center and Spokane Valley City Hall. It has also delivered steel to nine other states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Utah. – A.E.

Burlington Coat Factory

to open in Spokane Valley

Burlington Coat Factory is planning to open in a space formerly occupied by Toys R Us in Spokane Valley.

The New Jersey-based retailer filed plans with the city to complete more than $1.4 million in renovations to the 30,400-square-foot space at 15505 E. Broadway Ave.

Toys R Us closed last year in Spokane Valley after the retailer filed for bankruptcy protection in 2017.

Burlington Coat Factory began as a family business in 1972 with one store in Burlington, New Jersey. It has since expanded to more than 691 stores – including one internet store – in 45 states and Puerto Rico. The company has 12 stores in Washington, including a location on North Division Street in Spokane.

Mark Bromeier of Missouri-based Casco Professional Services is the project architect. Missouri-based Atlas Building Group is the project contractor.

Burlington Coat Factory sells discounted apparel, footwear, baby items, home goods, accessories, coats and beauty items. The retailer generated revenue of $6.6 billion in 2018, according to its annual report.

The company indicated in a 2018 annual report that it will continue to explore expansion opportunities within “current market areas and other regions.”

Burlington’s decision to open stores “generally is contingent upon a number of factors, including the availability of desirable locations with suitable structures and the negotiation of acceptable lease terms,” the company said in its annual report.

The retailer positions many of its stores in off-mall shopping centers it calls “power centers” with a combination of three to five big-box anchor stores and smaller specialty tenants. – A.E.

Assisted-living facility plans $300,000 in improvements

Maplewood Garden assisted-living facility will get nearly $300,000 in improvements, according to permits issued by the city.

The four buildings at the retirement community at 1100 N. Superior St. will be renovated to improve accessibility. The project is estimated to cost more than $286,000.

Maplewood Gardens is just south of Mission Park, with views of the Spokane River and the Centennial Trail. It is owned by CarePartners Management Group, a Mercer Island, Washington-based company established in 1998 that owns senior-living facilities in 11 Washington communities. CarePartners acquired the Maplewood Garden in November 2018 for $10.75 million.

The work is being done by Walker Construction, of Spokane. – N.D.