Spokane7
50°
June 24, 2011 in City
We dreamed of things that were, and said ‘Y not!’
The removal of the old YMCA building in Riverfront Park has opened a new view of the Spokane River and surrounding area. It has also opened a view of the stream - visible just above the work trucks - that ran under the old building.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
If you were on the fence about the proposal to knock down the old YMCA building in Riverfront Park, go take a look now that it’s gone.
My guess is you won’t yearn for a stack of condos.
The absence of that old building on the banks of the Spokane River is as happy a sight as I’ve had in a while. I mean, right now it’s just a bare, scraped-up patch of land. But simply opening up the view there is impressive – it’s like someone turned on a light in a forgotten room. It’s exciting to think about what it will become in the next few months after the city’s great-looking plans for restoring the site are in place, complete with new pathways and overlooks.
“It’s pretty dramatic, isn’t it?” said city parks director Leroy Eadie. “It really changes that whole area.”
It sure does. And it makes me very glad that proposals to develop the site as condos fell by the wayside, as did resistance to the project on various other grounds. Because that spot – for the views of the river, for the views from the other side of the river, for the added green space and parkland, and for creating invaluable access to the Spokane Falls – is going to be amazing.
It already is, really. I used to think I hated that building. But my animosity was nothing compared to my feelings now that it’s gone. Because if this is what it was standing in the way of, that building was uglier than I thought.
People I respect took a different view. Ron Wells, who knows a thing or two about historic buildings, wanted to keep it there, and he once told me he thought the building had been the victim of “character assassination.”
“Spokane has a long trend of tearing down old buildings,” he said last year. “We’ve done it for many years.”
I generally agree with him. Our impulse to destroy or remake things that have fallen temporarily out of fashion is often stupendously short-sighted. And I have a fond memory or two at the old Y. My son took his first swimming lessons there.
But in this case, consider me one of the assassins. Because that thing looked like Mike Brady’s aqua-blue nightmare. And its absence is going to help create a community treasure.
Bon voyage, institutional hulk. We’re going to love having you gone.
About a year ago, this looked depressingly unlikely. Some City Council members thought it needed to be developed privately, as condos, apartments, a museum, a jazz club, an aquarium, a magic bunny farm. … The improbable possibilities sometimes seemed endless. People fantasized about the kind of vibrant, live/work/shop space that sounded like a super-groovy precursor to a big, empty building.
But even had something like that worked, for me the debate always came down to this: What do we want our parks to be? Shopping malls? Strollways for the hip and well-to-do? “Views” for top-floor buyers?
Others objected because the $5.3 million purchase of the old Y was made possible by $3.3 million in Conservation Futures funds, money that some council members wanted to see directed toward larger chunks of wilder land. And there were other objections as well – to the cost, and, yes, to the idea that we’d be tearing down a prime example of mid-century architecture.
In the end, a heated debate concluded with a 4-3 City Council vote (thank you, Joe Shogan, Amber Waldref, Steve Corker and Bob Apple) and a 2-1 County Commission vote (thank you Todd Mielke and Mark Richard) and the wrecking ball arrived this spring.
Now demolition is virtually complete, Eadie said. Bids for the restoration work – including new pathways, four overlooks, natural plantings, basalt outcroppings, a restored stream and other features – are to go out in July, with work to begin around the end of that month.
“We’d like to have the project done by late September-early October,” he said. “That’s the goal.”
I can’t wait. This town is full of empty condos – nice, new, hip, empty condos. It’s full of old buildings – some cool, some not. It is surrounded by an abundance of places to play in the great outdoors. What we don’t have are very many places like this, directly on the banks of the city’s iconic, central feature.
We have exactly one of those.
“Everything that we’ve heard is positive,” Eadie said. “People are really amazed.”
Count me among the chorus. Goodbye, old Y, and good riddance.
Shawn Vestal can be reached at (509) 459-5431 or shawnv@spokesman. com. Follow him on Twitter at @vestal13.
The draw of the unknowable 
pakman on June 24 at 8:33 a.m.
It’s good to hear the park has been improved with removal of the old “Y” but it seems like this would have been a good place to have provided a picture (which is what the story is about) rather than a map of Riverfront Park (which pretty much everyone knows how to find). I am sure other Spokane natives, thousands of miles from home, would also appreciate seeing a picture of the new view.
SpokyDaBear on June 24 at 8:39 a.m.
The guy who claimed he wanted to buy the building for condos was just trying to shake down the city. The old Y building had a easement allowing cars to drive through the park and across the bridge and through the fountain. He never planned to build condos. We was looking to threaten the city with his legal park boulevard unless the city paid him millions of dollars. That’s why the city used conservation fund money.
codym on June 24 at 8:54 a.m.
Agreed with Pakman - As a displaced local, I’d love to see a picture of this!
wheels on June 24 at 9:14 a.m.
In the end this may prove to be if not ‘THE’, at least one of the very best decisions ever made by any Spokane City Council.Actually all made possible by the visionaries of Expo ‘74.I love Spokane and as a former resident I applaud you all.You should be proud.What a legacy.
MrNatural on June 24 at 9:20 a.m.
This was nice commentary to read this morning Mr. Vestal. I agree the city council took the right tack in allowing this site to display our town’s commitment to “Near Nature Near Perfect”.
• A crappy old cold war vintage building….$4,300,000
• Another elitist private commercial venture….say $15,000,000
• A Spiritual Place for all enhancing one of Spokane’s great natural wonders…..Priceless!
horse_feathers on June 24 at 9:36 a.m.
Huge, huge, huge price paid for a piece of grass.
zelda on June 24 at 9:47 a.m.
I can hardly wait to see it. This is one of the few *good* things to happen in Spokane in many a moon.
madscientist on June 24 at 12:34 p.m.
to see a picture, go to the park and look at it.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on June 24 at 1:40 p.m.
madscientist: I’m 1600 miles away, but when I get back to town I’ll be sure to pop in. In the meantime, I agree a picture would have been nice since what it looks like now was the whole point of the story.
Bruce (aka thatoneguy) on June 24 at 1:44 p.m.
^ actually the pictures are up. The small pic shown at the top didn’t look at all familiar. Now that I’ve looked at the enlarged versions, I’m amazed at the transformation. I realized I didn’t recognize it before because wasn’t ugly.
Byrdie714 on June 24 at 3:35 p.m.
What happend to the little critter that lived there?
greenlibertarian on June 24 at 3:39 p.m.
I was down there a couple of days ago to check out the falls. Was bummed that due to the deconstruction, one of the better (and larger) viewing spaces of the falls which was right next to the building is blocked off by construction fencing, and Hoopfest folks had already put a ten foot fence on the big bridge.
Horsefeathers doesn’t seem to know the first three rules of real estate.
Location.
Location.
Location.
pakman on June 24 at 8:19 p.m.
Thanks for the pictures, it looks great and will be one of my first stops when I get home.