Funeral home in works

POST FALLS - Post Falls will have a second funeral home.

Bell Tower Funeral Home and Crematory is expected to be finished in November along Interstate 90 in the Post Falls Business Park next to the Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital at 3398 Jonalan Ave., said co-owner Rob Clark.

"After extensive studies, we believe there is a need for it," Clark said. "So we're just giving people another option."

English Funeral Chapels and Crematory is currently the only funeral home in Post Falls. It also has a location in Coeur d'Alene.

Bell Tower, which will be identified with a 35-foot tower, will be co-owned by Rob and his wife, Nancy; Kip and Sandra Clark; and Roger and Lisa Argo.

Kip, Rob's dad, owned Family Home Mortgage in Spokane Valley for about 30 years. Roger, a friend of the Clarks, worked for English for 17 years, while Rob has owned a local construction company for 17 years.

The 8,000-square-foot, single-story funeral home will be on 1.2 acres. It will have a chapel that seats 200, two viewing rooms, a 1,200-square-foot show room and crematory.

"It will be a full-service funeral home," Rob said, adding that the intent is to build more funeral homes in the area at sites to be determined. "This is something I've wanted to do for 12 or 13 years and I've been working diligently for the past four.

"We want to build something that's warm and inviting and, when you pull up, it doesn't look like a funeral home."

Rob said the home is intended to serve all of Kootenai County.

"We're not building this to limit ourselves to Post Falls," he said.

Rob said he hopes construction will start in about two weeks. A groundbreaking involving the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce is being planned, but a date has not been set.

A site plan review meeting with the city will be held on Tuesday.

Rob said the site was chosen due to visibility from I-90, accessibility and Post Falls' central location.

"It's an easy drive to cemeteries and not too far from Coeur d'Alene or Hayden," he said. "We're excited for this new venture and to offer this service to the communities in the area."