The Spokane Public Facilities District has selected LMN Architects, of Seattle, to prepare a conceptual design for an addition to the Group Health Exhibit Hall, which was completed in 2006.

LMN, working with ALSC Architects PS, of Spokane; MW Consulting Engineers PLLC, of Spokane; and others, is expected to complete the conceptual design work early next year, the PFD says.

"Back when we were building the exhibit hall, it was during a period of great escalation of materials costs," says Kevin Twohig, the PFD's executive director. "We had to cut significant parts of the building program," by reducing the size of the building and eliminating meeting rooms, to complete the structure and stay within budget, he says.

"We've done a lot of surveys of user groups" since the building opened, Twohig says. "What we cut out of it is exactly what they tell us we need."

The hall, which includes 82,000 square feet of floor space, was planned originally to include 100,000 square feet of space, Twohig says. Ideally, an expansion would add 25,000 square feet of exhibit space plus meeting rooms, he says.

"It's unfunded," Twohig says of the possible expansion. He says the district needs to develop a conceptual design for the potential project to establish a budget.

The PFD expects to put the project to a public for a vote in 2012, Twohig says.

"We don't do anything without a public vote," he says. Design development work would follow on the heels of the conceptual design before a vote would be scheduled. The project would be built on the northwest side of the building, toward its rear. The district has bought the C.I. Shenanigan's building in that area for possible expansion, but whether the district would use that property for the expansion hasn't been decided yet, Twohig says.

"If we don't use it, we can't build anywhere near as close to the river," he says.

The district might also put on the 2012 budget a "smart trips hub," which would be a garage with retail space, Twohig says.

"We'll probably start studying that next year," he says. "We conceivably could add that into the 2012 vote."

LMN will work under a $150,000 agreement funded by the district, Twohig says.

Jeff Warner, project manager for ALSC, who has worked with the district for 17 years on various projects, says, "This next expansion phase is really an opportunity to engage the surrounding elements and connect the exhibit halls" even more closely to the Spokane River, Centennial Trail, and Riverfront Park.