Federal Money Plays Role In Park Improvements
Perhaps no passion is greater than a Spokane neighborhood for its park.
And no federal program has done more for parks in Spokane than the community development program.
Since its inception in the mid-1970s, community development has paid for everything from the picnic shelter at Garry Park to a wading pool at Harmon Park to basketball courts at Corbin Park.
Community development money turned a trash-infested vacant lot into Dutch Jake’s Park, a miniplayground at College and Chestnut.
Restrooms, tennis courts, walking trails and swings have all come about because of neighborhood wishes to invest in their parks.
The awareness was partially a result of Expo ‘74, which focused attention on what Riverfront Park did for the community, said Taylor Bressler, parks manager for the city of Spokane.
In two cases the federal dollars were spent on park acquisition and expansion.
In the case of Friendship Park, at Greta and Standard, there was no park land at all north of Francis until the Nevada-Lidgerwood neighborhood steering committee decided to purchase 2.5 aces of vacant land. The neighborhood then bought another acre and built a restroom and tennis court.
When an adjacent 11 acres became available from the school district, the city was able to trade for that property in large part because the park facilities were already in place.
“I’m really proud of Friendship Park. It took 10 or 15 years, but it’s a wonderful park, and it all started with community development,” Bressler said.
A.M. Cannon Park in the West Central neighborhood has a similar story.
Faced with a deteriorating and overused seven-acre park, the neighborhood decided to make park improvements a priority.
The West Central steering committee used $700,000 of community development money to purchase seven homes and other sites that doubled the size of Cannon Park.
The city also pitched in $350,000 from its park bond issue to build new restrooms, a basketball court, parking and tennis courts.
, DataTimes