SPOKANE, Wash. — A group is working to save a historic building that’s in the way of the North South Corridor Project on I-90.
Built in 1910, the Rose Apartment building, located at 1726 E. 3rd Ave., is a good example of colonial revival style. The nine unit apartment, that's still in use, is currently listed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places.
It's located on the southside of I-90, right in the path of the state's freeway expansion project. The East Central Community Organization hopes to save it.
"It has significance in the neighborhood in both its style and who it has served over the years and we don't want to lose the history either," said Chris Venne, President of the East Central Community Organization.
Contractors told the non-profit it could cost about $500,000 to move the building. Venne said it will move less than a block away where the current community garden is located on 4th and Pittsburg.
"It's a difficult building to move because it's brick. One of the wild cards is: Can it clear the electrical lines between the town buildings,” Venne said.
He said the state is working directly with residents still living in the building and helping with the transition.
"They get all their moving expenses paid and the state has to find them a rental unit with the same size, at the same cost or lower," Venne said.
The non-profit is still working on a deal with the state. Venne said at the end of the bidding process, funds from the state will cover the cost to move the Rose Apartments.
He said it's a deal worth working on to save a piece of Spokane's History.
"Our goal is to make sure these units are not among those that get demolished and put out of service," Venne said.