Construction is under way on a new $12 million, 30,000-square-foot Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery facility at 2230 E. Sprague.

Amy Knapton Vega, executive director of the organization, says Spokane-based Bouten Construction Co. is the contractor on the project, and NAC Architecture, also of Spokane, designed it.

“Construction started in November and has been going really well,” Vega says. “We’re on schedule to have the building completed by the end of October.”

The organization bought the 1.7-acre east Sprague Avenue site from Zales Discount LLC for $1.3 million in fall 2017. The site had been home to an old Safeway supermarket building that had been converted into a bingo hall, and that 16,900-square-foot building was demolished in March 2018 to make way for the crisis nursery project. 

Knapton Vega says Vanessa Behan currently is working on a fundraising campaign called Project Every Kid, which has a fundraising goal of $22.5 million, to fund the building’s construction and provide five years’ worth of increased operating costs.

“To date, we’re about halfway there through gifts and commitments,” she says. “We’ve made some decisions that increased current costs, but that are expected to limit future expenses with regard to replacement and future expansion.”

Knapton Vega says the organization currently is able to serve only about two-thirds of the requests for care it receives due to space constraints at its current 12,000-square-foot facility at 1004 E. Eighth.

“On top of that, we are seeing child abuse rates increase in Spokane, and our pulse on Spokane says we are likely only serving one out of 10 children that could benefit from our services,” she says.

Knapton Vega says the organization hopes to be able to move into the new facility by January 2020.

“It will take us some time to get our certificate of occupancy and licensing for our programs,” she says. “As this is a much larger facility, we’ll need some time to get familiar with the building and how its spaces will function.”

She adds that Vanessa Behan also is looking into what to do with its current facility after the organization moves to the new building.

“We gave it a lot of thought, but we just don’t see value in keeping the building for ourselves,” she says. “Our board currently is determining our options in terms of either selling or leasing the building once we’ve moved out.” 

Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery provides short-term, 24-hour care to children up to 6 years old, as well as parent education, crisis counseling, and basic childcare items, such as diapers and formula.