Leone & Keeble Inc., of Spokane, has begun work on an $8.5 million building at 3715 S. Grove Road, just west of Spokane, to house the Seventh-day Adventist's Upper Columbia Conference headquarters. The church's previous headquarters building burned to the ground in December 2008.

The one-story, 37,000-square-foot building was designed by Architects West Inc., of Coeur d'Alene. It is under construction on the same site as the former, two-story, 42,000-square-foot building that burned down. Bill Skidmore, operations officer for the Upper Columbia Conference, says the new building will house all of the 45 administrators and staff members who worked there before, but a more efficient building design will allow for a smaller replacement structure. He says the project should be completed by May 2011.

Jay Wintermeyer, an Upper Columbia Conference spokesman, says the new building will have fewer offices, because several in the old building were not being used. The new building also will have fewer but larger common work spaces, and a smaller auditorium.

Since the fire, Skidmore says, the Upper Columbia Conference has been renting a facility for its headquarters at 15918 E. Euclid, in Spokane Valley, and the radio station it operates has been temporarily located on Spokane's South Hill, where it has access to its broadcast tower on Browne Mountain.

Skidmore says the conference's insurance will cover the costs of the loss and rebuilding from the fire.

The Upper Columbia Conference is the administrative headquarters for more than 25,000 members of 130 churches and worship groups, its Web site says. Its territory encompasses Eastern Washington, North Idaho, and Northeastern Oregon.