Last gasp fails to save house
LOREN BENOIT/Press The old Victorian home on Kootenai County’s downtown campus is coming down later this year. The space was most recently occupied by the law offices of Brown, Justh and Romero before the county purchased the land two years ago for office space.
COEUR d'ALENE — A Victorian house on Kootenai County's downtown campus is coming down after all.
On Monday, Kootenai County commissioners authorized building consultant Shawn Riley to begin to secure bids for demolition of the 1910 structure at 627 Government Way that was once occupied by Judge William McNaughton and Kootenai County Prosecutor William Hawkins.
It was most recently occupied by the law offices of Brown Justh & Romero. Two years ago, the county bought the property for $425,000 to use for office space.
The demolition decision came after the county twice put removal and relocation of the building out to bid and received no offers. The most recent bid process, which ended last week, also included a salvage-and-demolish option.
"There were two parties who weighed in during the last bid period, but determined that the building was too big to move," Riley said. "It will not fit down a two-lane road."
The county intended to use the property to relieve crammed departments, though Riley said the county determined early on that it would be cost-prohibitive to remodel the building.
The county's proposed fiscal year 2020 budget includes $4.5 million for a new office building that will either be constructed where the old home is or be built next to the justice building.
Commissioner Chris Fillios cited the county paying about $10,000 a month to house the Public Defender's Office in leased space at U.S. 95 and Lacrosse among the reasons more county-owned office space is needed.
Riley said the old 4,600-square-foot Victorian home, which is not on the National Register of Historic Places, will likely be demolished before winter.
"At the end of the day, wherever we construct the new building, it will be nice and blend in with the rest of the campus," he said. "We'll also try to salvage as many trees as we can."
Riley said the county was mostly interested in the property for the land, which is at a premium on its growing downtown campus.
Commissioners decided to put the existing building out to bid a second time because of concerns from historical interests who wanted to see the structure preserved.
Zoe Ann Thruman, who earlier spoke to commissioners about demolition concerns and presented signatures in opposition, said the home has been a buffer between the neighborhood and the county's campus. She also pitched the idea of maintaining the structure as a historic site for the community.