The Dirt: Former Hugo’s on the Hill building to be demolished

Nearly six months after its abrupt closure, former South Hill bowling alley Hugo’s on the Hill will be demolished to make way for a new retail space.

Chattaroy-based contractor NRH LLC applied for a permit with the city to demolish the 30,000-square-foot property at 3023 E. 28th Ave. in the Lincoln Heights Shopping Center.

Hugo’s on the Hill, which opened in the 1950s, had 16 vintage bowling lanes, a bar, dining room, casino, banquet area and a game room.

Hugo’s co-owner Chris Schwartz told the Spokane Journal of Business in July that paying rent on the large space made it difficult to manage overhead costs.

The Spokane Journal of Business is a subsidiary of Cowles Co., which also publishes The Spokesman-Review.

In July, Hugo’s on the Hill posted on Facebook they would be closed to “address a problem.” The business never re-opened but instead taped a sign on the door stating it was permanently closed and thanked customers for their patronage.

Vandervert Developments, which is the property owner, has not yet decided on a future occupant for the space, but it’s likely the company will build another retail building after Hugo’s is demolished, said Debbie Cozzetto, a marketing representative for the company.

New Spokane Gun Club location on West Plains moves forward

The Spokane Gun Club is one step closer to building a new location on the West Plains.

Spokane County determined the gun club’s proposed project – which includes building-controlled pistol, trap and skeet shooting ranges as well as a clubhouse – will not have an adverse impact on the land and forwarded an environmental review Tuesday to the Washington state Department of Ecology for evaluation.

The gun club sold its former 99-acre site in Spokane Valley to the Central Valley School District in 2018 to make way for the district’s third comprehensive high school.

The sale was somewhat controversial among gun club members, with some raising concerns about the ability of finding a new site and obtaining a conditional use permit.

County commissioners voted in August to remove a 450-acre site from a designated no-shooting area west of Fairchild Air Force Base and bounded by McFarlane Road to the north and Thorpe Road to the south. The area had been designated as a no-shooting area since 1993.

Western Pacific Timber LLC owns the site with a sale contingent upon approval of a conditional-use permit by the county.