A grand plan for an old building
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 9 years, 6 months AGO
LISA JAMES/Press The building at 402 Sherman Ave., in downtown Coeur d’Alene, sits at the busy intersection of Sherman and Fourth Street.
Courtesy of Robert Singletary A circa 1915 photo of the building at the corner of Fourth Street and Sherman Avenue in Coeur d'Alene. It was home to the Morrow Mercantile Company until the early 1930s and later became known as the Dingle Building. The property's new owner is proposing to turn the building into a boutique hotel.
By NILS ROSDAHL
Staff Writer
COEUR d’ALENE — A landmark building in downtown Coeur d’Alene is poised for a grand makeover.
Craig and Debbie Ward of Harrison, the new owners of the Dingle Building, 402 E. Sherman Ave., propose to turn the property into a boutique hotel with an added fourth story and 40 to 60 hotel rooms.
Boutique hotels have “a prime address that still feels removed from the tourist grid, an air of sophistication, a unique personality, and generous service,” writes Katrina Brown Hunt, in Travel + Leisure magazine.
In preliminary plans submitted to the city of Coeur d’Alene, architect Richard Colburn details “CDA Grand Hotel” with a lobby, a restaurant and retail shops on the first floor and hotel rooms on the second, third and fourth floors. The plans, which must still be approved by the city, call for a small parking area to be developed in front of the lobby entrance to allow loading and unloading for guests. The building is already home to retail stores at the street level, including Tiffany Blue, which will remain, and Sports Cellar.
The existing second- and- third-floor occupants have been asked to move out by mid-March.
Built in 1891 by V.W. Sander as the Idaho Mercantile Co., the structure was one of the city’s first brick buildings, according to local historian Robert Singletary. It was remodeled in 1912.
John W. Morrow of Walla Walla bought it in 1914, and the first-floor occupant became Morrow Mercantile until the early 1930s. In 1933, John Dingle and son Hedley moved their hardware store from 319 Sherman Ave. into what became Dingle’s Hardware at 402 Sherman. A fire destroyed the fourth floor in 1957.
Dingle’s Hardware moved to 1010 E. Sherman in 1986, and the Dingle family operated a gift store and sports shop in the 402 location. Other retail stores joined the main floor.
John Beutler of Century 21 Beutler & Associates handled the sale of the building.
Changes of occupants will be followed in the Business Bits column on Sundays.