Palouse St. Elmo's makes state's Endangered list

SEATTLE - A nineteenth century hotel in Palouse came closer to being saved from demolition.

The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation announced the St. Elmo's building in Palouse is being added to their list of Washington's Most Endangered Places.

Built in 1888, St. Elmo's is a former railroad boom hotel. With its mansard roof and metal shingles, it is one of the few existing buildings in rural Eastern Washington in the Second Empire style, according to the trust.

The three-story structure is part of the Palouse Main Street Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The owners of St. Elmo's bought the building in 2018 with plans to rehabilitate it, but after finding more structural issues than anticipated they prepared to demolish it, according to the trust.

Community members helped convince the owners to put the building back on the market to give someone else the chance to save the building. A core group formed the Friends of St. Elmo's organization, which nominated the building to the Most Endangered Places program.

The Washington Trust is working with the Friends of St. Elmo's on strategy and the search for a buyer, or group of buyers.

The Sept. 10 announcement of it making the list was part of the Washington Trust's annual fundraiser, Vintage Washington. The event was held virtually this year.

The list started in 1992 to recognize and call attention to specific sites statewide – buildings and historic places – which are under threat by neglect or demolition.

Other sites on the list include Tacoma's 1893 renaissance-revival old city hall, Aberdeen's former Grays Harbor Railroad and Light Company building, St. Ignatius Hospital in Colfax and sites such as the old Ritzville High School.