Meridian Construction Inc., of Spokane Valley, is the apparent low bidder on a renovation project that Community Colleges of Spokane is planning for the former Washington State University Intercollegiate College of Nursing building, just east of the Spokane Falls Community College campus in northwest Spokane.

The renovation project, which was designed by the Spokane office of Anchorage, Alaska-based USKH Inc., will reconfigure about 22,000 square feet of floor space on portions of the first and second floors of the three-story, 71,000-square-foot building, also known as the Warren G. Magnuson Building, says Rob Kasberger, an architect with USKH.

The city of Spokane is reviewing the plans for the project.

The structure, located at 2917 Fort George Wright Drive, formerly housed the nursing school, which moved recently to a new five-story, 80,000-square-foot building on the university's Riverpoint Campus east of downtown.

Last month, WSU turned the building over to the Community Colleges of Spokane district, which is comprised of Spokane Falls Community College, Spokane Community College, and the Institute for Extended Learning (IEL).

The building will house SFCC's allied health programs and some IEL programs, Kasberger says. The first floor will have four classrooms and six physical and occupational therapy labs, and the second floor will have three new computer labs and three classrooms, he says. The third floor is mostly office space and will continue to be used for that purpose, Kasberger says. The exterior will be unchanged, except for minor parking lot reconfigurations.

James Steffens, project manager for the Washington state Department of General Administration, which oversees design and construction of certain state-funded projects, says the department is reviewing the bid, and he expects it will approve it this month.

The project is expected to be completed by about early July, Steffens says.