Spokane Mental Health says it's converting a vacant two-story building on Spokane's North Side into an inpatient psychiatric facility.

The total cost of the project will be about $3.9 million, including construction, equipment, furnishing, and real estate costs, says David Panken, Spokane Mental Health's CEO.

The 16-bed facility, tentatively called the Calispel Evaluation & Treatment Facility, will be located about a half-mile north of downtown at 1401 N. Calispel, at the northwest corner of Sinto Avenue and Calispel Street.

The project involves renovating the 13,700-square-foot structure there that Spokane Mental Health bought earlier this year and constructing two additions totaling 900 square feet of floor space, plans under review by the city show.

Some interior demolition work is under way, and the project is scheduled to be completed by mid-August, Panken says.

Bouten Construction Co., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project, and Spokane-based NAC|Architecture designed it.

The building's 2,600-square-foot upper floor will be used for storage, Panken says. The main floor will have six one-bed and five two-bed inpatient rooms, he says, adding that it will have seven crisis-triage rooms, in which the facility's staff will determine whether individual patients need outpatient treatment or more intensive inpatient treatment, he says.

The facility will have 10 additional offices for outpatient treatment of patients with co-occurring mental illness and substance-abuse issues, Panken says. It will have several other evaluation and treatment rooms, staff training rooms, intake rooms, a courtroom, a nursing station, and a reception and waiting area, he says.

The large number of rooms planned inside the building will require construction of many new interior walls, says Brian Sayler, a project manager for Bouten.

"It will be a dense build-out for a combination of programs there," Sayler says.

The exterior of the building also will have a new look with a combination of horizontal siding, stucco-like exterior insulating finish system, and cultured stone, he says.

Spokane Mental Health, a nonprofit that provides treatment and rehabilitation services for people with mental illness and co-occurring disorders, such as substance abuse, has received a $1.5 million capital grant toward the project from the state of Washington, Panken says. Most of the rest of the cost will be recouped through a contract to provide its services to Spokane County, he says.

The Calispel facility will net Spokane Mental Health an increase of nine beds, as it intends to close its seven-bed Hartson Stabilization Services voluntary treatment center, at 904 E. Hartson, when the new facility opens, Panken says.

"The community really needs the capacity," he says.

Panken says the Calispel staff will have about 60 full-time-equivalent employees, which will be a significant increase compared with its current Hartson staff, Panken says.

Spokane Mental Health will continue to operate its 16-bed Foothills Treatment & Evaluation facility at 505 N. Foothills.