The master plan is finished, the sales pitch is polished, and the search is in full swing for private developers and public money to make the University District here a reality.


Advocates of the U Districta mix of city of Spokane employees, businesspeople, university officials, and othersare meeting with developers and civic groups regularly to share their ideas for the higher-education hub just east of downtown Spokane. Meanwhile, the city is heading up an effort to secure $12.4 million in federal funds for various infrastructure improvement projects throughout the planned district and is taking other steps to prepare for development.


Were getting closer and closer to having the whole district shovel ready, says Tom Reese, former economic-development adviser for the city who remains involved in the U District planning.


Kim Pearman-Gillman, a senior vice president at Avista Development who served previously as the citys economic development adviser and also is involved in U District planning, adds, This all is going to make it easier for us to sell the possibility of what the district could be.


What U District advocates hope to bring about is an economically vibrant area of the city where thriving businesses serve growing numbers of students and faculty members with everything from everyday products and services to sophisticated education items to lively entertainment to housing.


In other communities, university districts have become spirited centers of activity, where the spark from a campus-like atmosphere undergirds sales at coffeehouses, bookstores, restaurants, nightclubs, theaters, and eclectic residential developmentsand encourages conversations between students, students and faculty members, researchers and businesspeople, and others. The enclaves have provided a break fromand intellectual stimulation formore traditional neighborhoods and commercial districts while providing a diversion for those who live in other parts of the community.


Bisected by the Spokane River, the U District here is anchored by Gonzaga University on the north side of the river and the Riverpoint Higher Education Parkwhere programs are offered by Washington State University at Spokane, Eastern Washington University, and Community Colleges of Spokaneon the south bank. The district is bordered, generally speaking, by Sharp Avenue to the north, Hamilton Street to the east, Interstate 90 to the south, and Division and Browne streets to the west.


Later this month, U District advocates are scheduled to update the Spokane City Council on recent activities in the district and ask it to support the master plan formally. They say the plan is in compliance with established planning and zoning requirements.


Current construction projects under way within the district include two at the Riverpoint campusthe $33.85 million WSU Academic Center building and the $6 million SIRTI Technology Centerand one at Gonzaga Universitya $10.6 million student-housing project.


Work on the $34.6 million new home for the WSU College of Nursing and the affiliated Intercollegiate College of Nursing is expected to start next year, as is the first phase of the Riverside Avenue extension, which is designed to reroute away from the center of campus traffic between downtown and the Trent Avenue Bridge.


Brian Pitcher, chancellor of Washington State University-Spokane, says, When that (portion of) Riverside gets broadened, Spokane Falls (Boulevard) can be narrowed to a two-lane road to manage the traffic flow.


Cody George, the citys new economic-development adviser, says the federal money currently being sought by the city would fund projects that would enhance neighborhoods districtwide.


Reese and Pearman-Gillman say U District advocates lobbied for those transportation dollars during a trip to Washington, D.C., late last April. As of earlier this month, U District advocates were waiting to hear if any of their requests for federal transportation dollars were approved.


Separately, the city has received a $200,000 brownfields grant from Washington states Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development for environmental cleanup in the district. Projects on which that money will be spent havent been identified yet.


With the federal requests, the largest sum sought is $4 million for the second and third phases of the Riverside Avenue extension, the first phase of which already received some federal funding. The first stage will extend Riverside from about Division east and then north to Spokane Falls Boulevard near the campuss eastern end. The second phase of work involves extending a new leg of Riverside farther to the east and north to connect it with Trent Avenue east of Hamilton. The third phase of work will connect Riverside to Sprague Avenue near the Hamilton Street bridge, which would provide a more direct route for traffic between the Riverpoint campus and the East Sprague business district.


Key pedestrian connection


Another project intended to connect East Sprague and Riverpoint is a pedestrian bridge that would span the railroad tracks that run between the two. The city is seeking $2 million for design of such a bridge, which as envisioned would have cafes and retail shops atop it in a style similar to the Ponte Vecchio, in Florence, Italy, though such ideas still are conceptual in nature.


This is what wed like to see serving as a cross-over tie between the two areas, George says. We want to make this as cool of a place as possible.


Reese says such a bridge could cost $15 million to $20 millionor moreto construct.


If that design money is secured, the city then would seek construction funds, he says. The soonest work could start on such a project likely would be 2007, he adds.


Other improvements for which federal money has been sought include $1 million each for Division Street improvements, Sherman Street improvements, Main Street streetscape, and Sprague streetscape; $500,000 for Sharp Avenue streetscape and Hamilton corridor streetscape; and $400,000 for University District signage.


Such projects would take place largely in the four priority areas, or activity centers, that the U District highlights and that U District advocates have identified as being ripe for development. They include the East Sprague area, the Main Avenue-Division Street intersection, the Hamilton Street corridor, and along the river.


The East Sprague area borders downtown Spokane and the citys medical district, and the neighborhood currently includes a variety of industrial, commercial, and retail businesses, with a small number of homes and apartment units, and the U District master plan says this area holds immense opportunities for infill and adaptive reuse development.


As envisioned in the plan, medium- and high-density residential units could be built along Pacific Avenue, two blocks south of Sprague, and a small, neighborhood retail center could sprout at the intersection of Pacific and Sherman.


The Main Avenue-Division Street intersection is at the eastern edge of downtown, and as the Riverpoint campus develops southward, that junction is expected to be a key connection between downtown and the U District, the master plan says.


To improve that connection, the plan calls for improvements to pedestrian crossings at that intersection and for improving traffic flow by converting a section of Main to a two-way street from its current flow as a one-way, eastbound arterial.


Also, the plan says, many older structures near that intersection have upper floors that could be converted into living units, and U District planners advocate the development of housing in future projects.


The Hamilton Street corridor currently has a mix of small retailers, light-industrial users, and other users, and its home to a number of sites for potential mixed-use developments that would accommodate retail users and some forms of housing. The Hamilton-Trent Avenue neighborhood is an area of particular interest for U District advocates, because of its proximity to both Gonzaga and Riverpoint.


The plan cautions, though, that future development there needs to take place without disrupting light-industrial users that are already there.


Also, the river is viewed as a tremendous asset to the U District, and district advocates plan to find additional ways to spotlight that natural attraction.