Spokane’s downtown YMCA is a popular lunch-hour workout facility among workers, who can watch the Spokane River from their exercise machines. (CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON / The Spokesman-Review)
“I’m absolutely frustrated and appalled,” Spokane Park Board member Steve McNutt said after the vote. “I feel like they completely pulled the rug out from under us.”
The Spokane City Council plowed through a decision last night on what to do with the old YMCA building in Riverfront Park as councilman Richard Rush unsuccessfully urged the council to delay a vote to allow a public hearing on the matter.
In a vote that shook down 4-3, the council decided not to use the Conservation Funds money to pay off the $4.3 million owed on the building and turn it into a natural area. Though the city is still in agreement to purchase the Y, having put down $1 million in 2006, this vote makes it more likely that the city will end up selling the property to the highest bidder. And councilman Al French must be kidding himself when he stated that, "a condo tower would be unlikely given the state of the real estate market." (Spokesman-Review, November 25, 2008). DTE is inclined to believe that if this piece of property ends up on the market that the city will have no problem selling it to a developer as it offers arguably the best view of the Spokane River and the falls, and a prime location to boot. As we stated yesterday, we will be following this story closely.
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