Coeur d'Alene now owns warehouse

COEUR d’ALENE — The city of Coeur d’Alene is the new owner of a big, blue building.

The City Council on Tuesday accepted a quit claim deed from the Museum of North Idaho for ownership of a warehouse west of Northwest Boulevard near the second phase of the Four Corners Construction project.

The building, which lies along a former Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad corridor at the Fort Grounds has been the site of construction and zone changes over the past several years.

The Museum of North Idaho purchased the building in 1993 and used it as a storage facility while leasing the land from BNSF. But change in management of the land has required it dump the property, which according to the county has an assessed value of $138,000.

Museum staff member Robert Singletary said he was unaware of any compensation for the warehouse, which is on federal land. By turning over the property to the city, the city would take over liability for the structure.

The location is part of former Fort Sherman, and the land belongs to the Bureau of Land Management, although the railroad used it for its operation, Singletary said.

“The building and the land have always been separate,” he said. “It was on federal property to start with.”

The warehouse has had several owners since its construction in the 1960s. Most recently, the museum subleased some of the space to North Idaho College. The museum moved out of the premises after purchasing a new structure near the cemetery.

“We had a little bit of everything in there,” Singletary said.

Under an agreement between the city and the BLM, no private entity is allowed to have property on the right of way, which is to be set aside for public use.

“A private entity cannot lease property on that location according to the city agreement with BLM,” council member Dan Gookin said. “(The museum) moved out of there. We’re taking it over, and we don’t have any plans for the use of that building at this point.”

As part of a plan to develop the area, however, the building, which has become an encroachment on federal land, will probably be demolished at city expense — a cost around $40,000.

“As we go forward, the city’s redevelop plans ... it will either be demolished or something will be done with it,” city attorney Mike Gridley said.