Work, Then Play Volunteers Clear Old Tree Farm To Make Way For Soccer Complex
The trucks were buried.
Covered with tree branches and debris, they were in constant use Saturday for the cleanup at Plantes Ferry Park.
More than 30 volunteers cleared this former tree plantation to make room for a new youth sports complex - the largest site in Spokane designed specifically for soccer.
“This is for the future of our kids,” soccer mom Marlene Brown said. “Soccer is growing. This is something that the Valley has needed for a long time.”
Scheduled for completion in 1999, the 70-acre complex eventually will include 14 soccer fields, four softball fields and a picnic area, said organizer Gib Brumback. Forty acres will be used just for soccer.
No longer will people have to drive all the way to Sandpoint or Yakima for soccer competitions, said 17-year-old Rob Christensen, who has played the sport for five years. It’ll all happen right here in Spokane.
“No other facility will be as large and nice as this,” said Patricia Moodie, a local soccer coach. “This is absolutely fantastic. Nothing will compare to this.”
Other members and friends of the Spokane Valley Junior Soccer Association braved the cold weather early Saturday to help trim and load twigs at the park. Dressed in layers and hats, volunteers used chainsaws to slash low branches. With gloved hands, others used axes and saws to hack away at the tree limbs. Some raked and shoveled the debris onto truck beds.
They spent eight hours cleaning up the spot once known as Black’s Tree Farm, which was owned by Inland Empire Paper Co. The Douglas firs, cottonwoods and other trees were never thinned.
The $1.5 million sports complex project is a joint venture between the Spokane Valley Junior Soccer Association and the Spokane County Parks Department, which acquired the site in 1991.
The idea was born three years ago, Brumback said. Since then, it has received $500,000 in state funding. The soccer association has matched that amount through fund-raising efforts. All the physical work at Plantes Ferry Park has so far been done by volunteers.
“I’m glad I’m helping build it,” said 11-year-old Skye Henderson, who’s played soccer since he was 4. “It’ll be fun to come and play here in a few years.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: COMPLEX Scheduled for completion in 1999, the 70-acre complex will eventually include 14 soccer fields, four softball fields and a picnic area.