The $1.7 billion Spokane Teachers Credit Union plans to put arecently foreclosed property to good use, creating a new branch foritself and office space for others in an historic old building indowntown Spokane, Wash.

The 113,400-member STCU obtained the Hutton Building last yearand its board voted this month to convert it into an anchor for thefast-growing credit union, which has doubled in membership in thepast five years.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983,the Hutton Building is named for Levi and May Hutton, who openedthe building's first four floors in 1907 and added three more in1910, STCU said.

The Huttons were silver mine millionaires who lived in afourth-floor apartment where they hosted lavish parties with suchnotable guests as presidential candidate and future Secretary ofState William Jennings Bryan, STCU said.

Plans are still being finalized, STCU said, but include a newbranch and commercial lending offices to handle its growing memberbusiness lending services, as well as office space it will sell onsome floors.

“We intend to continue growing our commercial lending programand it's logical for us to have a presence where those activitiesoccur,” said Tom Johnson, president/CEO of STCU, which bills itself as thelargest inland credit union in the Northwest.

The credit union has doubled in membership in the past fiveyears and last year its commercial lending staff made more than$33.7 million in loans.

Johnson said the project “gives STCU an opportunity to reclaiman architectural treasure” while participating in the growth ofdowntown Spokane. He said STCU plans to maintain its nearbyU-District location in the historic Schade Towers and its downtownbranch in the skywalk level of Crescent Court.

Administrative offices and most other back-office functions willremain at STCU's headquarters building in nearby Liberty Lake,Wash.

STCU also noted that Levi Hutton, who had been an orphan,funded the creation of Hutton Settlement, which still operates inthe Spokane Valley as a long-term care home for children.

“It's appropriate that the name Hutton, which is so closelyassociated with helping Spokane children, is now linked with STCU,an organization founded by Spokane teachers and dedicated toeducation and public service,” Johnson said.