East Sprague restaurant Vien Dong prepares new home

Vien Dong, a well-known Vietnamese restaurant that has long been located on East Sprague Avenue, closed its doors this month and is moving to a new location.

Nick Au, one of the restaurant’s owners, said the move had been in the works for years. The family that owns the restaurant purchased its new location, 3435 E. Trent Ave., about three years ago. It is the old Crossroads Restaurant at the intersection of Trent and Freya Street.

County parcel records show the Au family purchased the building in August 2014 for $350,000.

“It was time,” Au said. “It was time to stop over there and move over here.”

Au said the recent renovation of East Sprague did not force the restaurant out of the neighborhood.

“The change to the street, it had a positive impact for the restaurant,” he said. Instead, their lease on the space ended and the family decided not to renew it. The building’s owners did not raise their rent, Au said.

Au said he anticipates Vien Dong to reopen in June at the new location. He is currently redesigning the menus, but said the items, which include Vietnamese bahn mi sandwiches and pho soup, will remain the same.

Au said he didn’t know how long Vien Dong had been on East Sprague, but said his family had purchased the restaurant about 13 years ago.

Work underway on Cheney elementary school expansion

An expansion at Windsor Elementary School west of Spokane has begun, adding new classrooms and multipurpose rooms.

The work is part of a $7.25 million project to build eight additional classrooms at the Cheney School District school, funded through a bond approved by voters last year. The 21-year, $52-million bond will fund a number of projects, including $35.1 million to expand the overcrowded Cheney High School, $7.89 million to build 10 additional classrooms at Sunset Elementary and $3.2 million to build seven additional classrooms at Betz Elementary.

The district tried to pass a $44.9 million bond in 2015, but it fell just short of the necessary 60 percent support.

The renovation of Windsor, which is east of Grove Road north of Cheney, is being designed by ALSC Architects, of Spokane.

Avista building hanger at Spokane International

Avista is building a $1.6 million private corporate hangar at the Spokane International Airport, according to permits issued by the city of Spokane.

The 8,000-square-foot hangar will include a private office and is being built on vacant land at 7801 W. Pilot Drive, on the east side of the airport at Pilot and South Davison Boulevard. The location is in the southwest corner of the larger airport footprint.

The hangar, which is on land leased from the airport, will house the energy company’s corporate jet, a Cessna Citation II.

Spokane-based Garco Construction is the project’s general contractor and architect.

Dental business to build office on North Division

Apple Valley Dental is building a new dental office on North Division Street in Spokane.

The project, valued at $1.1 million in city permits, will occupy a vacant lot at 2121 N. Division St. in the southwest corner of Division’s intersection with and Canfield Avenue.

The dental company purchased the land in March 2013 for $300,000, according to county parcel data.

Apple Valley currently has offices in Spokane, Spokane Valley, Yakima, Sunnyside, Pasco and Seattle.

The project’s general contractor is Spokane’s Baker Construction. It was designed by Renata Presby, an architect with APM Synergy of Kennewick.