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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pavilion Park Project Near Startup In/Around: Liberty Lake

Adam Lynn Staff Writer

Spokane County commissioners on Tuesday gave the Parks Department permission to spend $330,000 to build the first phase of Liberty Lake’s Pavilion Park.

That means construction on the long-awaited park could begin within a week, said Wyn Birkenthal, county parks manager.

“It’s going to be a fantastic project,” Birkenthal said. “People out there have been crying for 10 years for some kind of neighborhood park.”

Liberty Lake resident and historian Ross Schneidmiller, whose family donated the land for the park, has campaigned for the facility for several years.

Greenstone Corp. of Spokane won the contract to complete Phase 1.

The company will build a parking lot and bathrooms, install an irrigation system, pave pathways and landscape the 14-acre site.

The landscaping includes more than 200 trees of 18 different species.

“There isn’t a tree out there right now,” Birkenthal said. “It will just transform that site, once we get those 223 trees in there.”

Residents will be able to play softball or soccer, fly a kite or just take a walk when the work is completed in early August, he said.

The bulk of the money for Phase 1 came from state grants.

Future plans for the park include adding a pavilion, small amphitheater, tennis courts and playground equipment, maybe even a swimming pool.

The community is already home to the 3,000-acre Liberty Lake County Park, but that facility is on the south side of the lake, about two miles from most homes.

Pavilion Park, at Country Vista and Molter roads, will be closer to the populated area and will have things Liberty Lake County Park doesn’t, like flat grassy areas where children can play ball, Birkenthal said.

“This will be something the kids can walk to,” he said.