Lidgerwood Street improvements planned

The Nevada-Lidgerwood Neighborhood steering committee has proposed spending $42,000 in community development block grant funds as part of a project to enhance pedestrian safety along Lidgerwood Street near NorthTown Mall.

The project would reduce the width of vehicle travel lanes along Lidgerwood between Queen and Rowan avenues, widen the sidewalks, create a buffer strip for pedestrians, add trees and other plants and improve the storm water handling along the street.

The money is being combined with $70,000 from previous annual block grants. Work is slated for 2009.

Neighborhood block grants come from nearly $1 million in federal funding to improve services and facilities in low-income neighborhoods. Some of the allocations go to nonprofit organizations serving the poor, including Second Harvest of the Inland Northwest food bank.

Kevin Brownlee, of the city’s community development department, said the neighborhood committees that recommend the grants have done good jobs of matching their needs with federal rules for spending the money. “We have a very savvy crowd out there,” he said of the steering committees’ work.

The Nevada-Lidgerwood Neighborhood also has proposed contributing $10,000 toward a long-planned, 24,400-square-foot expansion of the Northeast Community Center at 4001 N. Cook St. for current and future needs.

Elsewhere, the Logan Neighborhood steering committee is proposing spending $10,000 from its allocation on the Northeast Community Center project. It also has proposed spending $35,000 on sidewalk repairs and installation of sidewalk ramps at intersections.

The Hillyard Neighborhood is making an even larger allocation to the Northeast Community Center expansion. The steering committee there has recommended a $28,248 grant to the project.

In addition, the Hillyard Neighborhood wants to spend $20,000 on improvements to Harmon Sharpley Park, including electrical work, new trees, permanent tables and benches. The proposal calls for hiring a consultant for a master plan for future improvements at the park.

Also, Hillyard committee members have recommended $40,000 for sidewalk repairs along Market Street from Heroy to Columbia avenues as part of a reconstruction of Market Street in 2009 under a city street bond approved by voters in 2004. Sidewalks elsewhere in the neighborhood would be repaired under a separate $30,000 allocation.

In the West Central Neighborhood, $4,000 is being recommended for new steps at the Sinto Senior Center, 1124 W. Sinto Ave., and $3,000 for roof and basement stairwell repairs. At the West Central Community Center, 1603 N. Belt St., $5,000 is recommended for a new handicapped accessible entry.

The Chief Garry Park Neighborhood wants to spend $27,700 on sidewalk repair and handicapped ramps at Chief Garry Park. The Boys and Girls Club of Spokane County would receive $28,500 from the neighborhood to support its youth programs.

The North Hill steering committee has recommended putting $27,615 into the city’s single-family home rehabilitation program. The home rehabilitation allocation is going to be matched by the citywide Community Development Board with another $81,000 for North Hill homes, Brownlee said.