Repairs For Riverside State Park Uncertain

Long-awaited improvements to Riverside State Park are in danger of being derailed by state budget negotiations.

Nearly $2.5 million for maintenance at the park is included in a version of the state construction budget proposed by House Republicans and Gov. Mike Lowry. But Senate Democrats haven’t included money for the improvements in their version of the budget.

The endangered projects include:

$1.7 million in improvements to the Bowl and Pitcher area of the park, including two new restrooms, road repairs and installation of underground power lines. The facilities were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

$628,000 to pave or repair seven miles of the Centennial Trail from Government Way to Carlson Road near Nine Mile. The path is cracked from years of wear and tree-root damage.

Nearly $130,000 to renovate several vacant cottages built in the late 1920s for possible use as offices or housing for park rangers.

Park manager Gary Herron said it has been years since Riverside got any major repair money, leaving park staff to hold it together with “chewing gum and bailing wire.”

“We desperately need the money,” Herron said.

But Senate budget writers say state parks will have to put off repairs for a few more years.

“It was just a matter of not having enough money to do everything that everyone wanted to do,” said Sen. Valoria Loveland, D-Pasco, vice chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee.

Statewide, more than $7 million worth of roads and other parks improvements would be cut in the Senate version of the budget. The Senate placed a high priority on school construction, leaving less money available for parks.

House budget writers dipped into a different budget to pay for school construction, leaving more money available for parks and other projects.

The differences between the two versions will be ironed out in budget negotiations, currently in their fourth week.

State parks director Cleve Pinnix said delaying park repairs is foolish because the projects will get more costly as years go by.

“It’s the old game of ‘pay me now or pay me later,”’ Pinnix said.

House budget writers were sympathetic to the parks’ case and shoveled as much money as possible into maintenance, said Rep. Barry Sehlin, R-Oak Harbor, chairman of the House Capital Budget Committee.

Sehlin said he visited Riverside to see its condition himself.

“You don’t have to be an expert to look at it and see that it needs some work,” he said. “I think anyone would have to agree they’ve been operating on a shoestring.”

Pinnix sent a memo this week to Sen. Jim West, R-Spokane, requesting his help in saving the park money. West is one of six lawmakers who sits on the conference committee working on a budget compromise.

West said he’s not sure if he’ll be able to save the park improvements.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s not possible, but I can’t say that we’re going to be able to fit it in,” he said.