POST FALLS - Richard LeFrancis wonders if there's a way to sweeten what has been a sour situation with the emerging Greensferry overpass.

The director of the Pappy Boyington Field Museum adjacent to the Coeur d'Alene Airport has secured a site on the county's airport property, to which it can move the 1940s-era Farragut Naval Station building and current Richards family home.

LeFrancis said he sees historical value in preserving the former medical building, which originated at the Naval station near Athol, if logistical hurdles can be cleared.

"It could be an enormous historical resource," he said.

He said the structure could either be stored permanently next to the Pappy Boyington museum, which has expansion plans, or eventually be returned to its original home at Farragut.

LeFrancis has approached the Post Falls Urban Renewal Agency, which is funding the $15 million overpass, Farragut State Park and the Richards family to get the ball rolling on the move-rather-than-demolish idea. The concept has been well-received, he said.

"It would be nice to make lemonade out of lemons," he said. "I'm trying to enlist support for the idea. It can't be just me behind it."

A price agreement on the URA will pay the Richards family for the home, which is in the direct path of the overpass on the south side of the freeway, has remained elusive seven months after construction started.

Mary Richards, who was living at the home with her caregiver daughter, recently died and the property is tangled in probate indefinitely.

"It's been tough on the family and it's been tough on us from a scheduling standpoint (regarding the overpass construction)," said Tom Lien, URA executive director.

Lien said the project remains on schedule to be completed by this fall despite the right-of-way acquisition hurdle because work has proceeded on some portions that weren't planned until later.

"We've been able to adjust the scheduling," he said.

Lien said the idea to move the building is worth exploring, especially if that's cheaper than demolition and removal of the material. But the first hurdle is acquiring the property.

"(Moving the building) is a nice concept, but logistically - who would do it and when - we just don't know," he said, adding that the contractor is also aware of the idea and open to considering it. "There's a long list of 'what-ifs.' A lot of it depends on the timing of the probate process."

Charles Richards, one of Mary's children, said it will obviously be the URA's call on how to handle the home since it will eventually acquire it. But it would be nice, if possible, to preserve the home with his parents' names attached.

"God bless (LeFrancis) if he can find a use for it," Richards said. "I'd love to see it at Farragut where it started."

Lien said if the cost to move the building would be more than the budgeted demolition cost, demolition would likely proceed since the project is being funded with taxpayer dollars.

Meanwhile, Lien said the demolition of the former River City Dentistry building, also in the path of the overpass, was settled between the owner and URA earlier. It will occur as early as Monday.