The Dirt: Former Spokane Fire Station No.1 building to be redeveloped into new restaurant, bar in downtown Spokane

Spokane-based Copeland Architecture & Construction has filed a pre-development application with the city on behalf of property owner B&H Enterprises LLC Number 1 to convert a two-story building once home to Spokane Fire Station No. 1 for a project described as Firehouse restaurant at 418 W. First Ave.

Preliminary site plans call for a dining area and bar on the ground floor and a second dining area with two rooms for larger parties on the upper floor. The basement level will house cold and dry storage, an office and a commercial kitchen. Two site plans were submitted to the city, each showing different configurations of staircases in the building.

B&H Enterprises LLC Number 1, whose principals are Craig Hult, George Bourekis and John Heath III, purchased the property for $1.5 million in 2008, according to Spokane County Assessor’s Office records.

Fire Station No. 1 was built and dedicated in 1890, following the Great Fire of 1889. It was the first fire station with paid firefighters. Prior to construction of Fire Station No. 1, the city was served by the Spokane Falls Volunteer Fire Department.

The red brick fire station was known at the time for “being more lavish than functional” with its ornate decorations, molded tin ceilings and a polished brass pole descending from the upper level to the ground floor, according to Spokane Historical, an Eastern Washington University history project.

The department eventually outgrew the building. In 1911, the department began operating motorized fire engines, which were too wide for the building’s bay doors.

Spokane Fire Station No. 1, along with three other fire stations, closed in 1933 to make way for a larger station.

The Spokane Fire Department’s headquarters – now known as Station 1 – are at 44 W. Riverside Ave.

The former fire station on First Avenue housed a boys club for several years and was later occupied by Riley Candy Co., which installed an elevator and painted the building’s red brick exterior.

After Riley Candy moved out of the building, it was vacant until 1972 when it became the headquarters of Bank and Office Supply Co. The building also housed a greeting card store, custom sewing business and Gemelli Coffee Roastery, according to a Spokesman-Review article published in 2008.

Bruchi’s plans restaurant at former Hugo’s site

Bruchi’s Cheesesteaks & Subs, a Spokane-based sandwich chain, has plans to build a new location on a site formerly occupied by Hugo’s on the Hill in the Lincoln Heights Shopping Center.

Architecture All Forms, of Spokane, filed a pre-development application with the city to build a 2,400-square-foot Bruchi’s restaurant near the southwest corner of Fiske Street and 27th Avenue on the South Hill.

Bruchi’s had filed a separate permit application with the city earlier this year to build a restaurant at 4221 S. Regal St., but plans have not progressed past a pre-development conference.

Hugo’s on the Hill, a former bowling alley, closed in 2019. A demolition permit was approved by the city last year for the 30,000-square-foot property.

Bruchi’s was founded by Bruce Greene in 1990. The restaurant chain changed its name to Bruchi’s Cheesesteaks & Subs in 1991 after success selling cheesesteaks.

Bruchi’s has seven locations in the Spokane area, including a restaurant at 2804 E. 29th Ave. on the South Hill.

Medical office building to be built in Spokane Valley

Developers are planning to build a new medical office building near the southeast corner of Mirabeau Parkway and Mansfield Avenue in Spokane Valley.

Spokane-based Bernardo|Wills Architects filed a pre-development application with the city for a 12,995-square-foot medical office building on 2 acres of vacant land south of the Tru by Hilton Spokane Valley hotel.

Centennial Properties is the property owner, according to the Spokane County Assessor’s Office. Centennial Properties is a subsidiary of Cowles Co., which also publishes The Spokesman-Review.

Baker Construction & Development, of Spokane, is the project contractor.

The project valuation is $4.5 million, according to the application.