Residents urge Spokane Valley Council to back finishing Performing Arts Center; feasibility study due

Dozens of Spokane Valley residents and arts leaders asked the City Council on Jan. 13 to help complete the Spokane Valley Performing Arts Center, saying the project has secured significant private support but needs additional financing and a council path forward.

Brent Wise, financial construction consultant for the project, told the council Phase 1 of the center “required a $46,000,000 vision” and that organizers have raised “over $18,000,000 with $14,000,000 invested into the project.” He said a Baker Tilly feasibility study (following work started by Moss Adams) will determine how much debt the project could support and that, based on those results, the PAC team may return with a bond proposal and financing structure.

The request was echoed by arts leaders. Dan Griffith, building chair and a retired architect, described the site and design: a 5-acre parcel at 13609 East Mansfield Avenue with a planned 45,000-square-foot Phase 1 building, 300 parking spaces and technical theater features intended to serve the region. Yvonne Johnson, founder and executive artistic director of Spokane Valley Summer Theater, said the nonprofit cannot continue as a professional organization without a permanent home.

Several speakers framed the project as both a cultural and economic investment. Susanna Balon Fries pointed to economic-impact material distributed to council and urged members to view a bond decision as a defining moment for the city. Grant Gwynn, a local hotel owner, said a completed center would draw out-of-town visitors and support nearby hotels and restaurants.

Project backers repeatedly asked the council to permit a return presentation. John Briscoe, a board member, said Roy Kogan, the public-finance adviser present by Zoom, “would be available” to explain bond structures and that the PAC team has paid for third-party analysis to clarify revenue forecasts.

Council members did not vote on a bond request that evening; instead the council agreed by consensus to invite a formal presentation and requested that city staff and outside bond counsel review any proposal before a motion for consideration. The proponents said a feasibility report is expected this week and that they would like a Feb. 3 update to the council.

The council’s next steps: staff review of the PAC materials and a follow-up presentation to address financial and legal details before any formal council action.