Education building's time has finally come

COEUR d’ALENE — A public education building project in Coeur d’Alene that has been discussed for almost a decade could break ground this spring, with completion a year away.

Bids on the estimated $8.2 million project located inside the higher education campus of the education corridor — the former DeArmond Mill site along the Spokane River adjacent to North Idaho College — will be received this month for the 30,000-square-foot facility funded in part by Idaho’s public universities and colleges.

Called the North Idaho Collaborative Education (NICE) facility, the two-story structure is expected to house University of Idaho, Lewis and Clark State College, Idaho State and Boise State university classrooms.

It’s also supposed to create one-stop student services — admissions, financial aid and advising.

The city’s urban renewal agency, ignite cda, will pitch in $2.5 million toward the project, while NIC, UI and LCSC will pitch in $2 million combined, said Elaine Hill of the state’s Department of Administration, division of public works.

“They will pay equal thirds,” Hill said.

The state public works will pay the remaining cost with taxpayer dollars.

Getting funding for the structure, which has been on the back burner for almost a decade, has been a lesson in patience.

One of the problems, Hill said, is the many statewide projects that were in competition for a limited number of Idaho dollars.

“It’s a frugal state and we have to be very careful how we spend taxpayer dollars,” Hill said. “And we are ... There’s not a money pot anywhere.”

Years of applying for Idaho cash paid off, giving legs to a project that gives credence to the education corridor ideal.

“It’s been a challenge,” said Tony Berns, executive director of ignite cda. “We had to compete for funding with the whole state.”

The project goes out to bid this month and a contractor will be chosen by mid-April, Hill said.

The first step at the site’s location on the island of land at the intersection of West River and Hubbard avenues, west of NIC’s outlying parking lots, is to move one of the temporary buildings there, and demolish the other one.

Timber Hall, a modular building that was sold by NIC, will be moved off the site, and the River Building will be used by Coeur d’Alene firefighters for training before it is razed, Hill said.

The River Building was part of the original mill site and most recently housed NIC’s vehicle fleet and its mail and copy center. Those services have been moved to the Siebert building on College Drive, according to NIC.

The project, which has gone through several revisions since it was first proposed, includes a multi-use facility with 16 classrooms and room for a 300-seat auditorium that could be added in the future, according to the state Department of Administration. The project includes two parking lots and extensive landscaping of the 1.2-acre site. It will be owned by the state and maintained by NIC.