Plans For Sports Complex Shift To Albi Voters Will Be Asked To Ok Sale Of 30 Acres Near Northpointe

The Spokane Parks and Recreation Department has given up trying to coax a sports complex from the dregs of a North Side sewer lagoon.

Instead, the department wants to sell the 30 acres at Colton Street and Holland Avenue, near the Northpointe shopping center.

Money from the sale would go toward building softball diamonds, soccer fields, a skateboard park, batting cages and paved parking near Joe Albi Stadium.

But first, voters are being asked whether the undeveloped Northpointe property should be sold to make it all possible.

According to the city charter, park land can’t be sold or exchanged without majority approval of voters.

Ballots will be mailed to about 118,000 city voters starting Wednesday. Returned ballots must be postmarked no later than Feb. 2.

The property is zoned for commercial use. The city hopes to raise at least $3 million from the sale.

In addition to the Albi improvements, some of the money would also be used to develop a neighborhood park on four acres next to the 30 slated for sale.

There is little opposition to the proposal, even from the group of neighbors living near the park who complained loudly about previous plans for the property.

Jeanie Wagenman, who opposed the lights, traffic and noise the softball complex would have brought to the neighborhood, is in favor of selling the park land.

She was also against a plan to sell alcohol during softball games at the site. Beer and wine sales averaging $100,000 a year were considered necessary to earn a profit on the facility.

“It was just incompatible with the residential neighborhood,” Wagenman said. “I’m pleased to see that they are going to put the land up for sale. I think it is a good location for appropriate commercial use.”

She’s also pleased the four-acre neighborhood park will still be developed.

When Wagenman moved to the neighborhood 18 years ago, the property was a sewer lagoon. In 1992, the city Parks and Recreation Department bought the acreage from the city Utilities Department.

The city has tried for years to develop the property into softball fields.

The project seemed on the brink of success two years ago when Jerry Draggoo and Associates, Portland consultants, finished a management study showing that the project could work.

But financing failed to materialize.

At one point, in view of neighborhood opposition, the city briefly pursued a possible land swap with a nearby landowner.

The proposed Albi complex would include a half-dozen lighted softball fields, a skateboard area, new soccer fields, an in-line skating hockey rink, two outdoor basketball courts, two volleyball courts, batting cages and parking for 375 cars.

There would be no alcohol sales at the new location, said Ange Taylor, director of the Parks and Recreation Department.

Al French, president of the Nevada-Lidgerwood Neighborhood Council, worked to find a solution for neighbors living near the site where the complex was originally proposed. He said while it’s too bad the project can’t stay in the neighborhood, building it at Albi keeps it on the North Side.

“It’s not our No. 1 choice, but still an acceptable decision,” he said.

One of the benefits of selling the acreage is the chance to return 30 acres of commercial property to the city tax rolls, Taylor said.

“There will be no cost to taxpayers,” he said.

The new complex would also add needed softball diamonds to the city and ease congestion on school and city playgrounds, city officials said.

Supporters say they hope the fields will attract both youth leagues and adult national tournaments, bringing tourists to the city.

“It’s a major economic engine, bringing in families and athletes from out of town,” City Manager Bill Pupo said.