Westside Church Spokane is building a $2.2 million, 12,000-square-foot sanctuary at 11916 W. Melville Road, in Cheney, that will provide a permanent home for the congregation.

Site work began in May at the property, which is located on 6 acres of vacant rural land on the outskirts of Cheney, according to permit information on file with Spokane County. 

After years of operating out of a commercial center at 10511 W. Aero Road, Westside Church Spokane is trading in leased space for a location it can call its own.

Donald Highlander, president of Connecting Spaces LLC, of Hudson, Ohio, is designing the project. Church Development Services LLC, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, is the contractor, permit information shows.

"Westside Church has been leasing space in a commercial center for years," Highlander says. "The church needed an independent space with a larger capacity, and we are helping design and build that."

Connecting Spaces is an architect and consulting company that specializes in sanctuaries and religious buildings, Highlander says, adding that Church Development Services also specializes in church and ministry construction projects across the country.

Highlander has more than 30 years of architecture and design experience, and says the church has outgrown its current facility and needs a permanent space with room for future growth.

Glen Trematore, owner of Church Development Services, has been building churches across the nation for over 25 years, and says the structure will primarily be made of prefabricated metal.

Details on the overall construction timeline are unavailable, Trematore says, noting that once construction starts, he expects the project to take 12 to 14 months to complete.

The development of a new sanctuary reflects continued growth and development on the West Plains, where residential expansion and commercial projects have accelerated in recent years in and around the cities of Cheney and Airway Heights and in western Spokane County, Trematore says.

Westside Church Spokane is raising money for the development through its Legacy 2027 campaign, in which churchgoers and donors are helping to support the project costs, says Highlander.

"It's not the biggest building out there," Trematore says. "But this is a space they can call their own, and that in itself is a game changer."