Task Force To Study Southwest Downtown

Satisfied with ongoing efforts to revitalize the business core, Mayor Jack Geraghty is turning his attention toward another troubled part of downtown Spokane.

Geraghty has appointed a task force of five citizens to explore development opportunities for the southwest section of downtown - an area anchored by a mothballed former showplace and infamous as a high-drug area.

“We’ve addressed the retail core,” Geraghty said Thursday, “but the Davenport Hotel area really is a special place….

“We need to help the task force get together with property owners and see if a vision for that area can be developed.”

The targeted area is bounded on the west by Browne’s Addition, on the east by Wall Street, on the north by Riverside Avenue and on the south by Third Avenue.

Geraghty tapped a committee composed of former Mayor Vicki McNeill; former Spokane District 81 School Board member Carol Wendle; the Rev. Bernard Coughlin, outgoing president of Gonzaga University; Jim Ray, immediate past chairman of the Spokane Public Facilities District; and Ric Odegard, a retired banker and former chairman of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce.

The group will examine new opportunities for parking, housing, the Carnegie Library neighborhood and the area around the Davenport Hotel.

Geraghty said he also wants to pinpoint development options for existing properties, such as vacant lots and lofts in old buildings.

The task force will report back to the mayor no later than Sept. 1, he said.

Geraghty said he also is considering a development task force for northeast downtown, an area anchored by the Opera House, Intermodal Transportation Center and Riverpoint Higher Education Park and bounded by Washington Street on the west.

, DataTimes