Keynoter Back To Help Hometown

Growing up in the Spokane Valley in the 1950s and ‘60s, Constance Epton Beaumont loved Spokane’s vibrant downtown.

Thursday, she returns to her hometown as a keynote speaker for a regional planning and preservation conference.

She’ll offer ideas and tools to help make downtown more exciting.

Beaumont, director of state and local policy for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has written books and lectured nationwide on ways cities can prevent sprawl and revive fading downtowns.

“I love Spokane,” said Beaumont. “The city has so much promise and so many assets. I think it can become a national model for revitalization, like Portland.”

The key, she said, is leadership, good planning, hard work and forging the right kind of partnerships.

At the conference, Beaumont will talk about the myth that sprawl is inevitable.

“But I don’t want to dwell on the problems; I want to talk about the solutions,” she said.

“Spokane’s downtown is beautiful. The historic fabric is still there,” she added. “You have world-class buildings, interesting and beautiful architecture.”

Beaumont said she often mentions Spokane revitalization projects when she lectures in other cities. One of her favorites is Ron and Julie Wells’ resurrection of Carnegie Square on West First - a blend of apartments, restaurants, shops and offices.

“It’s nice to see that little oasis,” she said.

Riverfront Park, a legacy from the 1974 world’s fair, is another highlight.

“When I was growing up in Spokane that area along the river was skid row. It was very depressing,” she recalled. “But it has been completely transformed. Spokane is one of the few cities where the world’s fair has left such a beautiful legacy.”

Beaumont decries “sprawl-marts,” what she calls the big, warehouse-style retail stores on the edges of cities.

She said suburban developments approved 20 and 30 years ago destroyed many downtowns.

“A lot of damage was done during that period to the livability and character of the city,” Beaumont said. “Those projects helped drain life out of downtown and undercut revitalization efforts.”