The YMCA of the Inland Northwest has leased a former bingo hall near its new central facility and plans to move its offices there early next year, says Rig Riggins, its president and CEO.

Riggins says the organization's administrative staff—about 45 people—will begin moving into 13,600 square feet of space in the new location, at 1126 N. Monroe, in mid-January. The three level-building is owned by Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Spokane County, he says.

The YMCA administrative offices will be on the ground floor, he says, adding that lower-level space will be used for staff training, and a small upper level will be used for storage.

The offices will be a long block north of the new YMCA-YWCA central facility, which opened in May.

Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, is remodeling the office location, and ALSC Architects PS, of Spokane, designed the project.

The administrative offices currently are housed in portions of the second and third floors of the YMCA's five-level building in Riverfront Park downtown. Last June, the city and its Park Board bought that building, at 507 N. Howard, for a total of $5.3 million.

Meantime, a report prepared by Lembeck Appraisal & Consulting Inc., of Spokane, says it would cost the city more to update the 76,000-square-foot building for future use than it would to tear it down and accept Conservation Futures funds to recover most of the cost of acquiring it.

The city's Parks Department hired Lembeck in June to conduct a study to determine the best use of the building and the acre of land on which it's located. Lembeck submitted the report to the department last week.

The city borrowed $4.4 million from its investment fund to buy the building last spring, and the Park Board earlier had put $1 million in escrow that went toward the purchase, says Leroy Eadie, acting Parks Department director.

Under a scenario in which the building would remain standing, the most likely use for it would be to redevelop the three upper floors for office space, which the city could rent out at $12 to $15 a square foot, generating $226,000 a year in net income, the report says. The report says it would cost $2.5 million for improvements to the electrical and mechanical systems and to construct tenant improvements to make the space marketable.

The report says that such a scenario still would result in a net loss of $850,000 over six years, and losses would continue to mount after that.

The report says it wouldn't be feasible to convert into tenant space the two below-grade levels where there are mechanical rooms and windowless space formerly used for swimming pools, locker rooms, and sports courts. It also wouldn't be feasible to renovate the pools and operate them, the report says.

"From the owner's standpoint, the highest and best use of the site would be to demolish the building and accept available Conservation Futures funding," the report says.

Eadie says the Park Board plans to recommend at the Nov. 23 City Council meeting that the city accept $4.3 million in Conservation Futures dollars to offset its acquisition costs.

Conservation Futures funds are derived from a Spokane County property tax and are intended to protect, restore, and limit the future use of lands having significant recreational, social, or scenic values. Acquired properties must be kept in a natural state rather than developed with conventional park amenities, such as ball fields and playgrounds.

The city must decide by Dec. 2 whether to accept the Conservation Futures funds, Eadie says. The use of the conservation funds would require razing the building and restoring the land to a natural state.

Eadie says the Park Board is exploring options to fund the estimated $800,000 in demolition costs and $40,000 to restore the land to natural conditions.

That YMCA-YWCA 80,000-square-foot central facility and a 54,000-square-foot YMCA facility, which opened in September just north of the city, were funded in part by proceeds from the sale of the downtown building.