UI wants to buy Moscow police station
Jun. 25—The University of Idaho is interested in purchasing the downtown Moscow police station and converting it into an art gallery, VandalStore and community space, according to a University of Idaho news release.
The Moscow City Council will discuss the matter in a public meeting Monday.
"We have been talking about reinvestment since we began the hard work to correct our spending two years ago," UI President Scott Green said in the news release. "We are now at a point where strategic investment in our university and the communities we serve makes sense. Purchasing this building allows us to grow our presence in downtown Moscow and better serve the public."
The university's proposal, subject to routine approval procedures, including finalizing the purchase agreement, is to purchase the 9,000-square-foot building on East Fourth Street for the appraised value of $975,000. The money would be a one-time expenditure from the general budget.
University officials expressed interest in purchasing the property in a letter of intent to the city, a city of Moscow news release said.
The city news release said if the City Council declares its intent to sell the property to the UI for a declared value at Monday's meeting, there will be a public hearing July 19 to determine if it is in the city's best interest to do so. If approved by the council, an ordinance would be enacted authorizing the move, and then the sale would move forward as a typical property sale.
The Moscow Police Department is expected to move into its new facility, under construction on the corner of South Main Street and Southview Avenue on the south end of town, in October.
The UI College of Art and Architecture currently rents space for the Prichard Art Gallery in downtown Moscow, the UI news release said. The college informed the owners a year ago that it was looking at other options for the gallery.
"The opportunities for this space are endless," Green said. "By owning space in the downtown corridor, we can more actively meet our land-grant mission right here at home. The Prichard has a long history of support in the community, and this allows us to expand on it."
The UI news release said the building would need some remodeling before reopening as a gallery, and more renovations would be done over time with donor support. There is no target date set for moving into the space should the purchase be finalized.
