Roosevelt may be saved

COEUR d’ALENE — The CEO of a Washington company in the process of buying the Roosevelt Inn said Wednesday they hope to preserve the historic building.

“We do not want to take down the Roosevelt,” said Benjamin Paulus CEO of Blue Fern Development.

“We really want to do the right thing,” he added.

In a phone interview with The Press, Paulus said their goal is to work with the city and its citizens to figure out how to develop the Wallace Avenue property while allowing the former Roosevelt School built in 1905 to remain standing.

Paulus said a big question remains: If the Roosevelt is preserved, what happens next? The answer will require all parties to formulate a solution. Can a steward be found?

“That's not us. We’re builders,” Paulus said. “We’re not hotel people. We don’t operate historic buildings.”

The Press recently reported that Blue Fern was in the process of buying the Roosevelt Inn with plans to clear the .63-acre property on the corner of First Street and build townhouses. It also owns the vacant lot between First and Second streets on Garden Avenue behind the Roosevelt, with plans to develop it, as well.

However, as word of the Roosevelt sale spread, many were upset and lamented the pending loss of another historic structure. The East Lakeshore Drive 1925 home of the late Dr. E.R.W. "Ted" Fox was recently demolished and few knew of it before it was done.

Roosevelt School was the first high school in Coeur d’Alene and was visited by President Theodore Roosevelt. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was converted into an inn about 30 years ago.

Longtime owners John and Tina Hough have been trying to sell it with plans to retire. Previous deals have fallen through.

Many residents shared their concerns at Tuesday night’s Coeur d’Alene City Council meeting.

Jim Stickney, longtime resident, said he and several friends attended the school when they were children.

“Don’t mess with the Roosevelt,” he said, as the crowd applauded.

The news that Blue Fern wanted to try and save the Roosevelt was greeted with relief and joy but tempered because there is even a bigger challenge ahead: Find someone else to buy it.

“I think it was a very positive outcome, assuming we can get to the next step,” said Coeur d’Alene Mayor Jim Hammond. “The opportunity to save this building is huge.”

He was going to meet with a potential buyer today but declined to name the person.

Hammond said historic buildings are essential to a community’s character and sense of pride. He said it’s also important to honor private property rights.

“We want to keep everything we can in that light,” he said.

Britt Thurman, director of the Museum of North Idaho, was elated to hear the Roosevelt is likely to be saved, but said there's more work to do.

“It’s important to remember that the Roosevelt is just one of many historic buildings in our community, and we need to keep this momentum going to ensure they’re all protected,” she said.

Walter Burns, chairman of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission, was pleased. He said he wants the Houghs to be able to sell the property and developers to build on the land east of the building.

“This is as good an outcome as we could have had,” he said.

Jeff Ward, who created the Facebook page “Save the Roosevelt,” told the City Council on Tuesday he met with Paulus and came away confident that Blue Fern is a “socially conscious and community-oriented company with a strong desire to be a good corporate citizen and a community partner.

“Blue Fern now has no desire to demolish the Roosevelt. It was conveyed to me that, if a solution can be found, the Roosevelt and its underlying parcel would be removed from any development plan, contingent upon a use and a buyer is found for the property,” Ward said. “As an act of goodwill, Blue Fern will be submitting a new site plan this week, showing the preservation of the Roosevelt."

Ward added a wake-up call: "The ball is now in this community’s court and the fate of the Roosevelt lies with us."

He urged the City Council to help find a solution, whether it be public, private or a public/private partnership.

According to the Kootenai County Assessor's Office, the Roosevelt Inn property was valued at $2.2 million last year.

Resident Zoe Ann Thruman, who was involved in the successful effort to save the 1908 Hamilton House a few years ago, said the community rallied around the Roosevelt Inn in a way she has rarely seen in her three decades of living here. 

She said think tanks were attended, news media stepped up, long distance calls were made, lunch meetings and coffee talks held, "all in the united effort to not only save this beautiful, historic building, but to take a stand and make a public declaration that this is our town and we have a right to a voice and a choice in what happens here."

Paulus said Blue Fern wants to use the property to its full potential, while finding a way to preserve the Roosevelt Inn.

“You have a developer in Blue Fern that is committed to that,” he said.

But he also said that Blue Fern, as a developer, buys land to build housing. He expressed concern that if a buyer for the Roosevelt Inn doesn’t come forward in a reasonable time, if a solution to preserve it can’t be found, it would impact their plans for the property and this problem could emerge all over again years later.

“We have one shot to figure out how to do this right," Paulus said.