An encore for Music Conservatory

The big white house at 627 Government Way has been called by many names — the Hamilton House, the Romer Building, the Hawkins House.

But after a $500,001 offer to purchase the building, it will finally be called the Music Conservatory of Coeur d'Alene.

After a year of back and forth, Kootenai County commissioners finalized the Hamilton House sale in a two-to-one vote Thursday morning in a special meeting. The bidders, Coeur d'Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer and Windermere/ Coeur d'Alene Realty Inc. owner Donald "Pepper" Smock, said they bought the property with the sole intention of leasing the building to the Music Conservatory for years to come.

Widmyer has been a part of preserving the house from the start, said local author Cindy Nunn, who was a leader in saving the house. When the county began discussing demolishing the property, Nunn, Widmyer, and local historian Deborah Mitchell started considering ways to save it.

"He was working with us before Julienne and the Music Conservatory," Nunn said. "During that time, we were talking about making it a civic center, or some kind of school of law. We had all these ideas."

Widmyer has a special relationship with the building. Growing up in Coeur d'Alene, he spent part of his youth delivering The Coeur d'Alene Press around the city, including to 627 Government Way.

"There are several names for the house," Widmyer said. "But I call it the Hawkins House, because the Hawkins family lived there, and that's who I delivered newspapers to in the early '70s."

It had always been his intention to support the preservation of the house, Widmyer said Thursday, but buying it was never in the cards. After the sole bid was rejected by commissioners last week, the mayor and Smock decided to purchase the home.

"When you have roots as deep as Pepper, and I have in this community, we decided to do this because we want to save this piece of property," Widmyer said. "We hope that it's the music conservatory for a long, long time."

Widmyer said he and Smock have always seen the importance of preserving Coeur d'Alene's history. When the Hamilton House situation began unraveling, they jumped to save it under their joint 627 Government Way LLC organization.

"Our history is so important because that is what Coeur d'Alene is," Widmyer said. "We've seen a lot of historic buildings not make it, and we need to start pushing more to preserve them."

Mitchell said they are now one step closer to securing the property's place on the National Historic Registry.

The lifeblood of Coeur d'Alene's future Music Conservatory, Julienne Dance, and her husband, Richard, joined the movement to save the building earlier this year. With dreams of filling the 1908 house with the sound of buzzing strings and dancing keys, securing the property was a huge victory.

"We couldn't be more grateful for Steve Widmyer and Pepper Smock for saving the day," Julienne Dance said. "We are looking forward to a strong alliance of creating more history with music and art with them."

Widmyer said the credit is due to the board of commissioners, Mitchell, Nunn, and Julienne and Richard Dance.

"It is all those people who got us to this point," he said.

The final vote was split after Commissioner Leslie Duncan opposed losing what she said was valuable county property. Duncan said the acquisition of the property was originally for strategic county operations. She said she never wanted to sell the property but was influenced by the neighbors and the music conservatory's efforts to save the house.

Initially, she had wanted to lease the property under county ownership, an initiative that failed in June when Commissioner Bill Brooks voted against the proposition.

"Offering the property for sale seemed to be the next logical option except for one problem, I don't want to sell the property," Duncan said. "It is not that I don't hear the cries of the neighbors who want to save the home. I have an obligation to house county operations for the benefit of the taxpayers first and foremost."

Commissioner Chris Fillios said after plans to sell, relocate, and demolish the structure failed to come to fruition, he was ready to be done.

"I believe that Mayor Widmyer and Pepper Smock's intentions are pure, they're sincere, and these are two gentlemen that are committed to this community," Fillios said. "I have no issue with it."

For Dance, Mitchell, and Nunn, fighting for the Hamilton House was an effort of love.

"I want to express my gratitude for the time, talents, ideas, and expertise in many areas that helped us stay alive as we pressed forward with the conservatory," Dance said. "What came from inside many people, the desire and heart to keep going were more powerful."

With Brooks and Fillios in favor, Kootenai County accepted the $500,001 offer from 627 Government Way LLC, which should close in the next 21 days.