Girl Scouts to complete building renovation here

Girl Scouts Inland Empire Council, of Spokane, has started the second phase of renovation at its facility on Spokane's North Side.

As work begins on that $1.5 million project, the nonprofit is marketing for sale about eight acres of land it owns on Lake Coeur d'Alene, says Lindy Cater, CEO of

The Girl Scouts building, located at 1404 N. Ash, fronts on both Ash and Maple Street. It had housed Maple Street Press until Girl Scouts bought it and renovated its east end in 2004 in the first phase of the building's renovation.

The second phase of the project involves remodeling the building's west end, which includes about 6,300 square feet of office space, and the middle portion of the structure, which is a 9,000-square-foot warehouse space. Also, a small brick building just north of the main structure will be converted into a Girl Scouts hostel where up to 50 people will be able to sleep.

The west end of the structure will be remodeled to accommodate a council store, a computer lab, a kitchen for life-skills learning classes, a dining area, an arts-andcrafts room, and some staff and volunteer offices, Cater says.

The warehouse section of the structure will be demolished and replaced. The new space will include a hardwood court for basketball or volleyball, a climbing walk a fitness center, and storage space. The court area also will be used for various Girl Scout ceremonies, she says.

Work started last month on the west end of the structure, and that work is scheduled to be completed in midSeptember. The hostel is slated to open in October, and the warehouse conversion likely will be completed by year-end.

Ramey Construction Co., of Spokane, is the general contractor on the project, and 3E Design Group PS, of Spokane, designed the second-phase renovation.

Cater says the land that Girl Scouts is selling on Lake Coeur d'Alene is next to its Camp Four Echoes, at Windy Bay, on the west side of the lake. The property includes five parcels, two that front on the take and three set back from the water. The organization is asking $1.5 million for all five lots. Of that anticipated amount, about $600,000 would go toward the building renovation. The balance of the renovation project is expected to be paid for through private donations, she says.

The Inland Empire Council covers Eastern Washington and North and Central Idaho. In March 2007, Cater says, the council is expected to merge with the Girl Scouts Mid-Columbia Council, which is based in Kennewick and covers Central Washington. The merged council likely will have a new name and will be based in Spokane, she says.