Terrain Programs is pursuing an ambitious plan to acquire downtown Spokane's historic Jensen-Byrd Hardware buildings and redevelop them into a year-round cultural hub, says Terrain Programs Executive Director Ginger Ewing. The site will serve artists, musicians, creative entrepreneurs, and nonprofit organizations.

Spanning 110,000 square feet, the proposed hub will unite a three- and a six-story building with a new 500-seat performing arts center at 310, 314, and 320 W. Riverside, in downtown Spokane Beyond addressing a strong demand for studio and production space, the development is projected to generate $21.6 million in annual economic output and create 228 full-time jobs, delivering what Ewing describes as a transformational investment in Spokane’s creative economy.

“All the indicators point to the direction that this could be really transformational for our city and also put Spokane’s creative community on the map,” Ewing says. 

Terrain Programs has held its annual flagship art and music event, Terrain, at the property since 2022, where the organization temporarily transforms the otherwise vacant site into a regional creative community gathering space, Ewing says.

The proposed Terrain Cultural Hub is designed to bring together programs and activities that are currently spread across multiple locations, she says, adding that the project will provide space to introduce facilities that are missing from Spokane’s creative ecosystem.

According to an economic impact analysis by London-based consulting firm Sound Diplomacy. In addition to the proposed $21.6 million in annual economic output, the project is expected to accommodate about 400 artists, create 228 full-time jobs, and provide technical assistance to an estimated 400 arts-related businesses in the first five years of operation.

“The creative economy makes up 20% of the state’s GDP; 1 in 10 workers work in the creative economy,” Ewing says. “This is an important part of our economy; these are important businesses."  

Ewing declines to disclose the cost of the project but says it's a multimillion-dollar plan that's expected to move forward in multiple phases, the first of which includes acquisition of the buildings, the land, and the adjoining vacant lot.

Early design plans for the proposed Terrain Cultural Hub, which have since been updated. -Sound Diplomacy 

As planned, Terrain's From Here retail store, currently located at River Park Square at 808 W. Main, and the Terrain Gallery, operating at 628 N. Monroe, will be relocated to the main floor of the three-story building. Five micro-retail incubator spaces for emerging creative businesses, as well as a restaurant and commercial kitchen that will host a workforce development program for youth in the culinary arts are envisioned on the ground floor of the six-story building, explains Ewing. An archway will lead patrons to the performing arts center venue to the east of the structure. 

On the second floors, 8,000 square feet of shared artist studio space, offices for Terrain and other nonprofits, and stadium-style seating for the theater are planned. The third floors will feature 21 secured studio spaces, and creative production areas for sound engineering, printmaking, ceramics, and dance, she notes. 

“Studio space is desperately needed in this town, and equity is also super important for our organization,” Ewing says.

The fourth floor may include additional production space, Ewing says, adding that plans for the floor are still under consideration.

“On the fifth floor of the six-story building will be a beautiful event space,” Ewing says. “On the sixth floor, we have room to grow. There’s also the potential to lease the space to like-minded nonprofit organizations.”

Spokane Valley-based real estate company 314 Riverside LLC, which is governed by Jody Spalding and Russ Spalding, currently own the property and a separate parking lot north of the buildings, at 317 W. Main, according to information on file with the Washington State Department of Revenue. Spokane County Assessor’s Office information shows the four parcels were purchased in May 2022 for $7.4 million.

Terrain is planning to purchase the three parcels on Riverside Avenue, excluding the parking lot on Main Avenue.

The nonprofit has secured an estimated $2.2 million in state funding for the planned purchase. Other forms of funding, including philanthropic partnerships, state and federal funding opportunities, and tax-exempt bonds also are under review. 

Acquiring the property will allow Terrain to pursue additional financing opportunities, including New Markets Tax Credits, Ewing says. The New Markets Tax Credits is a federal program that incentivizes private investments in qualifying projects in economically distressed communities. 

Ewing, who helped found Terrain in 2008, describes the nonprofit as an “arts organization that never intended to be an arts organization.” Terrain was established as a one-off event celebrating regional artists, but over the years, the nonprofit evolved to respond to the creative community’s needs by adding programming and facilities to support artists throughout the year.

In 2015, while in Iowa for a work trip, Ewing says she encountered an organization operating several types of arts programming under one roof. At the time, Terrain was a grassroots organization operated by a group of volunteers, but the experience planted a seed for growth.

“It was at that moment that I think I realized that what we’re doing with Terrain could be more permanent,” Ewing says.

In 2019, Terrain was selected as one of five organizations in a cohort funded by the Wend Collective to study ownership, organizational structures, and operating models for cultural facilities. The cohort met monthly for six months at the Alma Mater arts center in Tacoma, Washington, which helped inspire the pursuit of a cultural hub development.

Terrain began discussions with Washington State University Spokane about the use of a separate Jensen-Byrd building, at 131 E. Main in Spokane's University District, but those talks were disrupted by the onset of the pandemic, Ewing explains.

Looking back, she says Terrain wasn’t organizationally ready to take on a project of that magnitude. Since then, however, the organization has expanded its operations and undertaken feasibility studies, financial planning, and other preparations to pursue the vision that first took shape over a decade ago.

“It’s very ambitious, but we feel like it’s going to be a once-in-a-hundred-year opportunity for Spokane,” Ewing says.