Vintage Alley project to bring lights, mural to downtown Spokane's railroad alley

By the end of the summer, West Railroad Alley won't be so dark and empty.

Soon the alleyway will be lit up by a collection of neon signs and a freshly painted mural, dreamed up by local artist Chris Bovey and Chris Batten, principal and designated broker at RenCorpRealty. The mural will be on the backside of the Caliber Collision building, Batten said.

"The idea of it is this is the center block of a three-block area, so if we do this between Madison and Jefferson then it can expand. It's a living piece of art we can keep adding to. It should be a destination," Batten said.

Inspiration for the project came from alleyways like Freak Alley in Boise and Neon Alley in Pueblo, Colorado, Bovey said.

The project will be painted by Bovey, who owns Vintage Print & Neon. Just last year, Bovey opened a larger vintage print store to make room for a neon museum made up of neon signs he restored himself. He's been collecting neon signs for five years and has several in mind for the alleyway, which he's hoping will be a sort of timeline of Spokane small business history. He's even got a bright red neon sign that says Met, which is what the Bing Crosby Theater was called years ago.

The project in the alley is called Vintage Alley, named after Bovey's shop.

"I wanted to share my neon collection with Spokane on a permanent basis," Bovey said.

The mural, which will be 300 feet wide and 15 feet high, will be on the corner of Jefferson and First Avenue in downtown Spokane, Bovey said. The wall will feature art, logos and names of Spokane businesses like White Elephant, the Met, the former downtown breakfast joint the Shack and iconic Chinese restaurant Ming Wah. Phase 1 of the project, the mural, is expected to be completed by summer's end, Batten said. The neon signs will go up later, but the timeline for installation is unclear. String lights will be hung across the alley too, Batten said.

"This was a neighborhood idea," Batten said. "We all wanted to do something with the alleyway."

Batten owns the Jefferson building on First Avenue and Jefferson has plans for 40 housing units and several commercial spaces there.

The project is a part of the Downtown Spokane Partnership's goal to leave no alleyway "unactivated," said Elisabeth Hooker, vice president of marketing at the partnership.

"We're still trying to figure out the power bill, but we're excited about what it's going to mean for downtown," she said. The project is partially being funded through federal stimulus money from 2021, Hooker said, but there also are individual donors who are helping fund the mural. It will cost between $16,000 and $20,000 to complete, Hooker said, and the Downtown Spokane Partnership is accepting donations.

Bovey said Batten approached him last year about the project. This mural will be the biggest one Bovey has ever painted. The contract gives Bovey until September to finish. Before painting begins, the wall will be prepped and smoothed.

"As soon as they get the walls ready, I'm going to start painting," Bovey said.

The plan is to repave the entire alleyway too, so it's pedestrian friendly, Bovey said. Right now, the block is undeveloped. Bovey hopes this project will bring local businesses to the alley to create a fun space for nights out downtown.

"I'm excited," Bovey said. "I've been dreaming of doing something like this and got no real traction. And all of a sudden, these guys come along and say, 'Let's make this dream come true.' "

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