Stop In Traffic Started Woman’s Crusade For Park

The intersection of Division and Main streets isn’t along South Hill resident Carrie Anderson’s usual commute. But when she found herself stopped in traffic there a few weeks ago, what she saw made her angry enough to pull over.

The vacant lot next to the House of Charity mission serves as a meeting place for Spokane’s homeless. A tired couch sags against the House of Charity’s wall. Broken bottles and pieces of brick are the lot’s floor.

A fire destroyed the second-hand store that was on the property until five or six years ago. The charred remains stood for nearly a year before being demolished.

“The lot is still just like it was then,” said Dan Hutchinson, who directed the House of Charity for 17 years.

Anderson said that lot shows what’s wrong with Spokane.

“That lot is a reflection of who and what this town is,” she said. “The fact that we can leave that rubble-strewn lot for the down and out - it’s embarrassing.”

She would like to see the lot transformed into a “pocket park,” a small, green space for the homeless, and partially maintained by them.

“It’s an issue of dignity,” she said.

Ed McCarron, director of the House of Charity for the past two years, said he thinks a park is just what the area needs.

The lot sometimes serves as a parking lot. In the summer months, he said, it’s not uncommon to see people sleeping there.

McCarron said building a park there would provide an opportunity to involve some of the many who frequent the mission. Having served 3,599 meals in September alone, there’d be plenty of people to help out, he said.

“It’s just great that Carrie has responded to this,” he said. “It would be a shame if it didn’t happen. That lot has been an eyesore for years.”

When Anderson got out of her car that day, she talked to a contractor working nearby. He said it would be no problem to dump some excess dirt in the area, laying the foundation for the park.

Since that day, Anderson has found businesses willing to donate organic topsoil, sod, landscaping and fertilizer.

“I keep being pleasantly surprised that people have been so receptive,” she said. “I can’t help but feel that with just a few more phone calls, things would fall into place.”

One of those calls will have to be to the owner of the land, developer Harlan Douglass. Anderson has tried to contact him through phone calls and a letter asking for his help that she sent Oct. 10. She has been unable to reach him so far.

Douglass also did not return several calls for comment on this story.

Anderson said she’ll continue trying to reach Douglass.

“I have a very difficult time conceiving of this being denied,” she said.

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