Who would have guessed that 20 years later the STA bus plaza would still be generating controversy?

The original project was to be a joint STA-private developer plan for a transit center with offices and a retail center. The Spokesman-Review reported that after years of study, public hearings and “efforts to appease neighbors” the project was reduced to “a bus hub designed to keep waiting passengers out of the weather.”

I was one of many citizens who questioned putting this hub in the middle of the downtown retail and commercial district. We questioned putting all of the large, predominantly diesel buses in this rather confined area. How would they affect traffic congestion, air pollution and the visual streetscape? Was downtown the appropriate place for a transit center serving as a transfer hub for buses unloading and picking up passengers bound for destinations other than downtown?

STA’s plan didn’t make sense then, and it makes even less sense today.

There was a popular alternative back then: the Intermodal Center, home to Amtrak and Greyhound. STA rejected that plan, however, and moved ahead on building the plaza.

The Spokesman-Review and other news organizations reported on the grand opening in 1995. The plaza was described as a lavish building with a sprawling skylight overlooking a three-story atrium, with escalators flanked by a waterfall with bronze cougar statues. Imported Italian tile adorned the floors of a building many described as a little too elegant for a bus plaza.

Public officials (not all) and STA executives praised the plaza as Spokane’s newest and finest gathering place. A place with fine retail shops, meeting rooms and a truly magnificent building for all to enjoy.

This extravagance came at a price. The original cost in 1992 was projected to be $12 million. Three years later, it ballooned to $20 million. This then was the “bus hub to keep waiting passengers out of the weather.” The history surrounding the colossal cost overruns puts the blame squarely on STA planners and project managers.

Given historical hindsight, is there a better plan? In 2007, the STA was apparently having some second thoughts about its lavish plaza. STA spokeswoman Molly Myers stated in a Spokesman-Review article that the Intermodal Center was on the table. She reported the cost to move STA to that center would be $3 million to $3.5 million. It seemed as if common sense might prevail. But apparently nothing came of this idea.

Think of how many non-polluting trolleys and sheltered bus stops we could buy if STA unloaded its prime piece of downtown real estate and made that move. STA could provide rapid trolley or shuttle service to all of downtown from the Intermodal Center.

Imagine being dropped off in front of Nordstrom and Riverfront Park and all your favorite shops and restaurants. Visitors coming to Spokane by train, bus and plane would have direct access to their hotels and conventions by trolley. No need for an extra trip to a downtown hub to transfer to another bus.

The downtown shuttles or trolleys could be propane-powered or use other combinations of hybrid power. They would be smaller than the large diesel buses, which would ease congestion and air pollution.

To pay for this idea, STA could use the $5.8 million it plans to spend to remodel the plaza. And maybe even get it right this time.