While the Central Steam Heat Plant building may have been designed by one of Spokane’s most recognized architectural firms, Cutter and Malmgren, as the NRHP nomination speculates, the evidence is underwhelming. What is known, is that the idea man behind the project, Harry A. Flood, contracted with Arnold and Company a well-known Chicago engineering firm to design the steam plant. The Steam Plant is a collection of attached buildings on either side of the central three-story original steam heat plant building that features the pair of 175-foot tall smoke stacks. The distinct stacks are constructed of red brick with flared, corbelled tops and decorative blond brick diapering in wide bands near the top. The main building is constructed of red brick with wide white terracotta detailing at the cornice, window trim, and sill course in the Renaissance Revival style. The structural system is steel framework. The façade’s ground level features five two-stories tall, round-arched windows with multi-light glazing within industrial metal sash. 

One of Spokane’s most prominent skyline features, the building is historically significant for its role in the evolution of the power industry in the Inland Northwest, and its seventy-year contribution to providing steam heat to a majority of downtown Spokane’s buildings. The Central Steam Heat Plant building was listed in both the National Register of Historic Places and the Spokane Register in 1996. Today, the building is known as Steam Plant Square and is home to a variety of shops, Stack Restaurant, and Steam Plant Brewing Company. For more information see http://steamplantspokane.com/

Credits and Sources:

Prepared by Historical Research Associates, Inc., Spokane, Washington.