Names selected for new stations

Spokane Valley Fire Department commissioners picked new names for four of its fire stations Monday as they continue a program to switch from numbered to named stations.

Some of the names selected were based on location: Station 2 on Frederick Avenue in Millwood is now the Millwood Fire Station; station 7 on South Evergreen Road is now the Evergreen Station.

But Stations 3 and 6 were a little trickier to re-name.

One suggestion for Station 3 on Harvard Road in Liberty Lake was the Liberty Lake Junction Station, based on the name of a former light rail station next to the site. But the department plans to move the station across the freeway to land it owns on County Vista Drive, so commissioners voted to name it the Liberty Lake Station.

For Station 6 on Sprague Avenue near the west city limits, the two names considered were Edgecliff and Gateway. Commissioner Joe Dawson said the station is also next to several other neighborhoods, including Yardley and Pratt, and he suggested the Gateway name. He picked it because the city is preparing a gateway to the city nearby that will include a welcome sign, landscaping and perhaps some art. “The first thing they see when they come down the exit to Appleway is going to be our big station,” Dawson said.

“The more I learn about the Gateway name, the more I like it,” said Commissioner Colby Hanson. The commissioners voted unanimously for Gateway.