The location of a planned new federal courthouse in Coeur dAlene has been a matter of keen interest in the community, and developers were scheduled to give the U.S. General Services Administration some proposed sites earlier this week.


Developers were to have submitted to the agency on Monday proposals that identified and described potential sites for a project that would include 43,000 occupiable square feet of special use office space to house the new U.S. courthouse and federal offices.


A legal notice from the GSA says the proposals were to include site maps for suggested sites within the city limits of Coeur dAleneand also said the government wants to occupy the property no later than next Jan. 1.


Coeur dAlene Mayor Sandi Bloem said Monday that the GSA has told her that it might be difficult to keep the courthouse in downtown Coeur dAlene given the security requirements for the new facility. Bloem said shes not aware of any of the potential building sites and couldnt identify any interested developers.


Peter Gray, a Boise-based spokesman for the GSA, says the agency is simply conducting a market analysis at this point.


This is an attempt to start the process, says Gray. We dont have a plan in place or funding in place.


The intent of the recent call for proposed sites was to stimulate interest in the project on the part of the commercial real estate sector, he says.


He declines to disclose any timetable for the project, says he cant speculate on total project costs or funding sources, and says the GSA wont disclose for now any proposals it received on Monday.


The GSAs legal notice says developers must have experience in courthouse or similar project development, including the development of day holding cells.


The legal notice also lists a number of other requirements for the project, including on-site parking for 95 vehicles, a 50-foot setback for the structure, and a secure six-stall basement parking area. In addition to courtrooms and related facilities, the project would include offices for the U.S. Department of Justice. The GSA issued an earlier request for proposals last spring, but the Justice Departments needs have changed since then, Gray says.


We received some returns, but our clients needs and resources were changing, he says.


Coeur dAlenes old courthouse, a 12,300-square-foot structure at 205 N. Fourth, was built in 1927, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


Bloem says the city and the Lake City Development Corp., a city-sponsored urban renewal agency, would be interested in buying or leasing the old structure.


The GSA seemed to be interested in saving the buildings integrity, she says. They said that other federal buildings have been converted for office and retail uses. I would hope thats something we could do.