Eastern Washington University says its considering pursuing a joint building project at the Riverpoint Higher Education Park east of downtown Spokane, and shelving plans to construct its own building there within the next couple of years.


EWU had said previously it planned to use the $3.4 million it received from the sale of its four-story, 67,000-square-foot downtown building last summer to fund design and planning for a larger envisioned building at Riverpoint.


Under the revised strategy, EWU and Washington State University would team up to construct on a building at Riverpoint, with Community Colleges of Spokane providing program-related input, says Ron Dalla, EWUs executive dean at Riverpoint.


That is the direction were talking about going, Dalla says. EWU is not abandoning eventually having a building of its own, but based on the needs that both institutions have right now, this seems like a good direction.


Both WSU and EWU are emphasizing health-science offerings at Riverpoint, and that focus appears likely to grow, so collaborating on a building project there makes sense partly for that reason, he says. Political realities and the likelihood of a tighter state budget in the 2009-2011 biennium, when EWU previously had planned to seek construction dollars for its own building, also are factors that have played into the discussion, he adds.


We thought that there would be a lot more legislative support for a joint request, and a lot more support from the community, he says. Politically, it made more sense at this point to make a joint request.


Such a change in plans, though, apparently would delay construction of the next academic building on the Riverpoint campus by several years. Thats because no other major building projects currently are planned right away at Riverpoint, and EWU and WSU probably would have to go through the standard six-year legislative approval process to obtain project funding, first for building design and planning and then for construction, Dalla says.


The Riverpoint campus stretches east from near Division Street along the Spokane River on both sides of Spokane Falls Boulevard and currently includes five main academic buildingscounting the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing, which is nearing completionand several ancillary structures. It and the adjoining Gonzaga University campus are seen as major catalysts for future development in the surrounding University District.


Dalla says the money EWU received from the sale of its downtown building now is being held in reserve, and EWU officials havent quite decided what to do with it. One idea thats been raised is using it to buy from Community Colleges of Spokane the Riverpoint One building, at 501 W. Riverpoint Blvd., where EWU currently leases fourth-floor space that its downtown branch faculty occupies, he says.


A firm strategy on how to proceed with further building plans at Riverpoint could begin to emerge next month, Dalla says. EWU is working with WSU and the community colleges district to put the finishing touches on a comprehensive academic plan for the Riverpoint campus that the schools hope to submit for review in April to the Riverpoint Coordinating and Planning Council, a governing body for the campus, he says. That plan, once approved, would provide the program-related information needed to assess a joint building proposal better and to begin preparing a funding request for design money that could be submitted to the Washington Legislature next year, he says.


One possible site for a joint building would be just south of Riverpoint Boulevard, on the north side of campus, north of the Academic Center building, where there currently is a large parking lot, Dalla says. Another possible site would be in an undeveloped area between the Intercollegiate College of Nursing and the Phase 1 Classroom Building, just north of Spokane Falls Boulevard, he says.


EWU had housed its Spokane branch operation in the downtown building, at 705 W. First, since 1983. It sold that building to Portland-based Real Estate Advisory Services Inc., which intends to lease out office space there. Since last fall, the university has been holding most of its classes for Spokane branch students in the Academic Center building, although it also holds some classes in the Phase 1 Classroom Building and Health Sciences Building there, Dalla says.


EWU currently serves about 2,000 students through its Spokane branch, and those current Riverpoint buildings provide enough space to meet its needs until another building is constructed, he says.


Contact Kim Crompton at (509) 344-1263 or via e-mail at kimc@spokanejournal.com.