100 years ago: Washington Water Power announces plans to build new power plant on Spokane River near Monroe Street

The Washington Water Power Co. (today known as Avista) announced ambitious plans for developing more water power on the Spokane River.

Those plans included the following:

• A fourth bank of transformers at the Long Lake Dam, to supply more power to newly electrified portions of the Milwaukee Road west of Othello.

• Repair work on Post Falls Dam.

• A new high-voltage powerline to the Ephrata and Moses Lake districts.

• A new, modern power plant at the Lower Falls of the Spokane River, below the Monroe Street bridge.

The current Lower Falls power plant was over 30 years old. It had been renovated several times, but the company said it was inefficient and outdated.

The plans for replacing it with a new plant were still in the design stages. WWP said the need for it was not exactly urgent: The just-completed Upper Falls power plant was already producing enough power to create a surplus. Yet the company said that even if it decided not to build a new Lower Falls plant, it would definitely need to at least update the old plant.

The Spokane Daily Chronicle reported that with these proposed improvements, the power company “is in an excellent position to supply its increasing territory with power.”

From the fair beat: The Spokane Interstate Fair held a contest for a new slogan.

The winner was: “Make the fair your affair.”

A Sandpoint woman won $10 for the winning entry.