Children’s Museum Alarmed At Neighbors Officials To Place Cap On Number Of Sex Offenders Living At Nearby Hotel

The Department of Corrections will keep 13 sex offenders living fewer than than two blocks from the proposed Children’s Museum of Spokane.

But The Otis Hotel has agreed to accept no new tenants from the department’s early release program. Under the program, sex offenders have moved into the hotel at 110 S. Madison while receiving treatment.

The compromise comes two weeks after Children’s Museum officials learned of the sex offenders, raising concerns about the safety of future museum patrons.

“We are very committed to being downtown. We had spent some time looking at that neighborhood,” said museum board member Steve Mumm. “But in initial talks with police and others, that information did not come to light.”

Officials spent more than a year searching for the museum’s permanent home and unveiled the downtown site at 1017 W. First in early July. It is expected to open next year.

Sex offenders at the hotel are sponsored by hotel management and are subject to strict supervision and regular contact with corrections workers, said Det. Dennis Walter, a Spokane Police sex crimes investigator.

But having predatory sex offenders nearby led museum officials to demand action from the city and law enforcement. They expect 35,000 visitors at the museum annually.

“We’re not bringing any more (sex offenders) in. Those who are there will probably be relocating in time,” said Jack Kopp, a corrections department spokesman. “That doesn’t mean that other sex offenders who aren’t under our supervision aren’t down there.”

The Downtown Spokane Partnership also agreed to use security ambassadors to guide children and parents through the neighborhood once the museum is up and running.

The quick response to the concerns, Mumm said, means the museum will not consider another site.

But any further problems may force the group to reconsider the West First location.

“We want to take every measure to understand precisely what is happening in that neighborhood,” Mumm said. “We’re also very committed to having a good place for kids. The picture down there is still not clear.

“We want the dust to settle on this before we make a decision.”

, DataTimes