The Dodson Building in downtown Spokane is historically significant for its direct connection to the growth and development of downtown Spokane. As a multi-purpose building, the structure originally housed a saloon/pool hall, and a coffee house/restaurant as well as a hotel on the upper floors. Located in the heart of the “international district,” the building also played a key role in the social and cultural lives of Spokane’s Greek immigrant community, and is one of the last remaining with that association. The building also was associated with Japanese businesses and management of the upper stories as an SRO up until Expo ’74 when the hotel closed down.  The building is also directly connected to Japanese immigrants with the OK Trading store occupying a storefront as early as 1922 and the hotel was under Japanese management from 1945 until closing in 1974. Notable for its high-quality of design and materials, the Dodson is also significant architecturally. The Dodson building has a refined design that clearly relates it to the Neo-Renaissance expression of the time. Dodson and the architectural firm of Dow & Hubble aimed high with a neo-Renaissance style fourstory building that appeared like many of the hotels and higher quality commercial buildings in near the city’s commercial core and apartment buildings in the city. The high-quality materials of the exterior – smooth face brick and more than minor use of terra cotta elements – somewhat denies its lower end, single-room occupancy use.

Management Agreement