Old properties gain standing on state list

Three Spokane buildings and the Nettleton’s Addition Historic District have been added to the Washington Heritage Register, including the old Hillyard High School at 5313 N. Regal St.

The other two buildings are the Gables on Broadway, known historically as the Spokane Sash and Door Co. Flats, and the Dr. Robert and Jessie Bell House at 917 S. Lincoln St.

All three buildings and the district are being submitted to the National Park Service for potential inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

Allyson Brooks, the state’s historic preservation officer, announced the listings in letters signed last week.

“Having properties listed in one or both of these registers is an honor,” she said in the letter. Owners are eligible for tax credits, property tax reductions and waivers of building code provisions.

Hillyard High School is about to undergo redevelopment through a private company working with nonprofit agencies to provide low-income housing and social services at the apartments.

The high school was built in 1912 and was expanded with a 1922 addition. In 1946, the building was converted to apartments.

Last November, the property was purchased by Martindale Place LLC, which plans to spend $3.8 million on renovations over the next five years, in part through federal housing grants.

The Gables on Broadway underwent an extensive renovation about two years ago, and now the Tudor Revival row house has been brought back to life.

The 1909 clinker brick building at 1302 W. Broadway Ave. was designed by famed Spokane architect Kirtland Cutter and partner Karl Malmgren. It has 21 units.

The apartments were built for Enoch Engedahl and F.M. Gardener, partners in the Spokane Sash and Door Co. The apartments are referred to by the owners’ names for historic purposes.

“The Gardener and Engedahl apartments are an early example of Kirtland Cutter’s eclectic use of Tudor Revival style,” according to a nomination report for listing the buildings on the Spokane Register of Historic Places.

Nettleton’s Addition now becomes the state’s largest historic district with 912 historically significant structures over a 39-block area of northwest Spokane.

It is bounded by Mission Avenue to the north, Bridge Avenue to the south, Chestnut Street to the east and A Street to the west.