A Spokane development company says its spending nearly $2 million to convert a church complex north of the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena into an event center with planned capabilities to accommodate multiple business meetings and social gatherings.


The 29,000-square-foot complex, located at 1316 N. Lincoln, will include two main ballrooms, each with its own entrance, says Chris Heftel, who with his brother, Richard, are majority owners of the development company, Lincoln Center Spokane LLC, which bought the property in 2006.


Heftel says Lincoln Center Spokane is remodeling more than 26,000 square feet of floor space there and is adding about 2,700 square feet of space to the complex.


Wells Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project, and USKH, of Spokane, designed it.


The facility, to be called the Lincoln Center, is a complex of two church sanctuaries connected to a smaller, two-story addition that houses classroom space. The sanctuaries have been owned or leased by churches of several religious affiliations, two of which are current tenants. Heftel says one tenant plans to continue to use one of the sanctuaries.


The sanctuaries, will be converted to ballrooms suitable for a variety of uses, including weddings, business conferences, and church services, he says.


Heftel believes the oldest sanctuary, at the northwest corner of Sharpe Avenue and Lincoln Street, was built in the 1920s, and the other sanctuary was added onto the north side of the original structure in the 1980s. A barracks-type addition on the east side of the complex has been demolished to make room for the planned addition that will house a pre-event reception area and storage space, he says.


The largest ballroom will have about 5,000 square feet of space, plus a balcony, Heftel says. The other ballroom will have 3,600 square feet of floor space and a balcony. They will accommodate 450 and 250 people, respectively, for seating dinner events and gatherings for nearly twice as many people for theater seating.


Other space in the complex is being converted into five smaller reception and meeting rooms, which will range in size from 330 square feet to 850 square feet.


The addition and the ballroom renovations should be completed in May, he says. The developer plans to install two new commercial-grade kitchens and improve the parking lot this summer.


As part of the renovation, the art deco style of the older church structure will be carried throughout the center, Heftel says. It will all look like the same building, he says.


Heftel also is developing River Bluff Ranch, a planned 90-lot, gated residential community northwest of Wandermere Golf Course on Spokanes far North Side. Richard Heftel has real estate holdings in Washington, Nevada, Utah, and Texas. He and his brother both have backgrounds in the media and entertainment industries.


Contact Mike McLean at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at mikem@spokanejournal.com.