Tour De Tape Woman Leans On Spokane History In Producing Driver’s Audio Guide To Selected City Landmarks

OK, I admit it. I got lost.

Well, not lost actually. It’s just that even with a map in my lap and Harla Jean Biever’s audiotape in my car’s tape deck, I missed turns, crossed the wrong intersection in front of heavy traffic and, at one point, nearly turned down a one-way street. But don’t blame Biever or her tape. Or even Spokane.

I’m the idiot here.

It’s just that it had seemed like such a good idea: Check out this taped guide, titled “Discover Spokane, An Audio Expedition Through Spokane’s Past,” by actually doing the drive. And then write about it.

This is the writing part.

Be glad you weren’t there for the driving.

Biever, 63, says she got the idea for producing the tape last year after she and a friend organized a special guided tour of Spokane. Having worked closely since 1985 with Group Coordinators, a Spokane-based company that specializes in leading Inland Northwest tours for groups visiting the Lilac City, Biever was the obvious choice to lead the local tour.

“And one of the fellows said, ‘Harla Jean, you really should make a tape of this tour,”’ Biever says. She was, she adds, hesitant at first to do so. “The reception in Spokane to new ideas is not always that good,” she says.

But after discussing the project both with Carolyn Ogden of the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau and a couple of sources from the tourism industry, all of whom were encouraging, Biever decided to proceed.

“And so last winter, I sat down and for several weeks I wrote the script,” she says. Independent of Group Coordinators, Biever went to Mortimore Productions to produce the tapes, and she hired three local voices to read her script - storyteller (and editor) Krysten Lee, narrator Sonny Westbrook and direction-giver Pat Stien.

Some 250 of the tapes were produced during a first run, and 250 more were just recently shipped (Biever estimates that her expenses at this point are probably less than $3,000). The tapes are available (for $11.95) at several spots, including the Spokane Visitors Bureau, the Cheney Cowles Museum and area AAA Automobile Club offices.

Auntie’s Bookstore even has tapes for rent.

Biever produced “Discover Spokane” with two markets in mind: Spokane residents who want to learn more about their city, and out-of-towners who know little about Spokane to begin with.

“I wanted (to include) the history of Spokane, some of the most interesting places that people could visit,” Biever says. “The geology and the farming I wanted on it, and I wanted to be able to have little segments where people could stop, like Carnegie Square or Riverfront Park.”

By necessity, Biever says, she chose only the most major sections of Spokane - the downtown area, Browne’s Addition, Gonzaga and parts of the South Hill.

“I had to limit myself someplace,” she says, “and I figured in 60 minutes that was enough.”

Of course, that leaves open the possibility of a second tape. Perhaps the title could be something like “Discover Spokane - Where the Rest of Us Live.”

Anyway, here are some highlights of my own attempt at driving Biever’s tour, stop-by-stop:

1. Spokane Opera House - Parked in front of the building that, since 1974, has been hosting acts as diverse as Gallagher and Jane Goodall, I listen to how the native Spokane Indians gave way to such early settler-magnates as James N. Glover. I learn there are 450,000 residents in the Spokane metropolitan area and … but it is extremely hot, a trio of in-line skaters swoop past and my thoughts go with them.

2. Riverfront Park - After driving past that nifty red wagon, I pull into the park’s drive-in loop. I listen to more about old Spokane’s history, about the Carrousel, about Pig Out in the Park, etc., as I dodge city trucks delivering what looks like torture devices to our beautiful city park. Did you know that the Carrousel’s tiger alone is worth about $350,000?

3. Sprague and Post - The facts about The Great Fire of 1889 are being recited, but I have a problem: Where do I park to listen? I finally realize the best stop is in front of the Davenport because the tape tells me all about inimitable Louis D. and his great hotel and “the many exciting plans” the current ownership has for the venerable establishment - if that pesky underground oil problem ever gets resolved.

4. Washington and First - Watch out making a turn from Riverside onto Stevens because then you’re required to cross four lanes for a left turn onto First, a difficult task during rush-hour traffic. I hear something about May Arkwright Hutton, the suffragette/silver magnate … and boy do I wish I’d invested in some air conditioning.

5. Cliff Drive - Another round of block-circling and up the South Hill to Sumner (watch that sudden right) and around to Cliff. Here’s where I watched fireworks last year, squeezing in among the crowds that line this popular viewpoint. It’s a fitting place to learn about the formation of basalt, ice-age floods, the resulting Spokane-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer and, of course, the power of pyrotechnics.

6. The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist - To get here, I have to turn left from 13th onto Grand, dodging the cars that speed up the hill from my left, the line of traffic streaming from my right and the occasional car that pulls out from each of the businesses situated on the busy intersection’s four corners. I survive and stop in front of the massive cathedral just to mutter a small thank you.

7. Manito Park - Two questions: 1) Did you know that John Duncan imported the city’s first lilac shoots from Rochester, N.Y., way back in 1912? 2) How much duck doodoo do you think it would take to power the Park Bench’s espresso maker?

8. Duncan Gardens/Rose Hill - Fact: The 150 varieties of roses that bloom here each summer produce some 1,500 flowers.

9. Japanese Gardens - Little-known fact: I got married here almost one year ago (July 21). Seems to be a popular place for that sort of thing.

10. Patsy Clark’s/Browne’s Addition - Go west on 21st, right on Cedar, down the hill, left on Second … Aaaarrggghhh! Not paying attention, I turn left on Fourth by mistake and get caught in the traffic at one of the busiest intersections in Spokane! But I backtrack, get on course once again and end up in front of the mansion, built in 1898 for the then-unheard of price of $1 million. Now, of course, it is a pricey-if-atmospheric restaurant.

11. Campbell House/Cheney Cowles Museum - This is one of Spokane’s most famous corners, boasting the work of architect Kirtland Cutter. But instead of concentrating on the houses, I am intrigued by the story of the bald Cutter’s penchant for wearing wigs with progressively longer hair, a practice that was supposed to make people think that, just like anyone else, he was getting regular haircuts. Note: Be careful of traffic on the side streets. Failing to yield right of way seems to be endemic to Spokane.

12. Carnegie Square - Historic preservation at work is the theme here, and what the owners of the former library did to the steel magnate’s donation is certainly worth checking out.

13. Masonic Temple/Spokane Club/ etc. - The intersection of Riverside and Monroe is, of course, the rich person’s corner. When stopping here, watch out for the intrepid parking police - another Spokane specialty.

14. Viewing the falls - In the spring, it’s a sight. In late summer and fall, drive on.

15. Spokane County Courthouse - Look closely and you may see County Commissioner Steve Hasson jumping out of a window. But do it quickly because it’s difficult to find a place to park along Broadway.

16. Flour Mill/Spokane Arena - Look at what one can do with an old brick building. Then look at what one can do with a new brick building.

17. Broadview Dairy/Caterina Winery - Two thoughts: 1) Hard to believe the dairy began business in 1897. 2) Watch out or you’ll get confused here. …

18. Gonzaga University/Crosby Alumni House - … Ultimately you’re supposed to end up going east on North River Drive, so make sure you come out of the correct parking lot. A left on Ruby (even though Division is the most prominently displayed name) and a right on Sharp brings you within sight of the twin steeples marking GU’s St. Aloysius Church. After parking in front of 508 E. Sharp, you’ll hear all about Gonzaga’s “most famous alumni” - and undoubtedly Bing Crosby would have to be regarded as the school’s most famous alumnus, if indeed he had ever graduated.

19. Riverpoint Higher Education Center - You make a big circle to get here, proceeding east on Sharp, south on Hamilton, west on Trent, etc. This, we’re told, is the future of our fair city, and it does make quite a contrast to the twist of railroad tracks that ran through here just two decades ago.

And that’s it. At this point, the tape’s directions will take you back to where the tour began.

If you’re like me, however, you might profit from taking Biever’s advice about the best way to take the trek by auto.

“In retrospect, I would suggest that people sit down and listen to the tape first,” she says. “Then put it in their cars and go for it.”

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