The news a couple weeks back that the Spokane Art School would be putting their building up for sale was quite the downer. If nothing else, the school and location was a pretty good manifestation of art in Spokane for the past 23 years. The thousands of classes taught over the years exposed people of all ages to a very basic concept: get out there and create something.
But we're convinced this turn of events doesn't have to be the death-knell for art in this building. How about a conversion to live-work condos? Now before you start ranting about overpriced condos hear us out. The concept would be to target these live-work spaces at artists, but above all make them affordable. The devil is in the details as the big challenge would be to take this relatively small building (10,000 sqf) and make it pencil. Funds are out there that in all reality could be used to help make something like this happen. With a future science/children's' museum proposed down the street, and a couple other condo projects as well, such a project could add some depth to this interesting part of downtown. Yeah, we're idealists...
is it already up for sale? if not do you know when?
I went to this art school in the summers when I was a kid.
affordable artists lofts is code for really small studio apartment with no square footage. LOL. I wonder when they are going to make a set of lofts/condos that cater to families since that is what Spokane is mostly comprised of.
Posted by: Rachel | January 24, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Interesting, Rachel. One question though - do you really feel that enough families would be interested in condos to make such development worthwhile? Sure, the price (when compared to a single-family house) would make a condo attractive, but the majority of families I have spoken to about this issue have consistenly listed some sort of yard or playspace as an important factor in their purchasing decision. Sure, there are some who would be interested, but I wonder if the demand is there.
Obviously, any family-oriented condo devleopment would have to be very carefully placed and designed.
Posted by: Silent Bahb | January 25, 2008 at 03:11 PM
Silent Bahb - I suppose you're right. I personally think I would like to live in a condo as long as it was close to a park (Riverfront park in particular), but of course I only have one child. I guess because it's so easy to come by a house with a yard it wouldn't be the first choice for most. I can see the benefits of living in a condo though: no yard work, less expensive. I really love downtown and I think it could be a family friendly living area. They have a huge park, children's museum, library, more cultured and it's just fun to walk around downtown. The only down side would be no grocery store close by.
Posted by: Rachel | January 26, 2008 at 01:41 PM