Community Center Closer To Reality Backers Hope County Can Help Organizers Get Construction Grants

Thu., Oct. 7, 1999

By Dan Hansen danh@spokesman.com

A lthough there are still a lot of details to work out, two Spokane County commissioners have given their blessing to a plan to gather a food bank, health clinics, child care and other social services under one roof at Mirabeau Point.

Currently, services provided by government and nonprofit groups are scattered throughout the Valley. Many are offered at the Valley Center, 11922 E. First.

The Valley Center lacks space for child care and large meetings, and adequate storage for clothing and food, center director Mollie Dalpae told Commissioners Phil Harris and Kate McCaslin on Tuesday. Parking and office space is limited, as is bus service.

Dalpae and other social-service providers said they would need about three acres of land and $3 million to build a 25,000- to 30,000-square-foot community center at the Mirabeau Point complex. Like three similar centers in the city of Spokane, it could be used for community gatherings, as well as a one-stop outlet for social services.

Community center backers hope the county will donate the land, and help Valley organizers garner state or federal grants for construction.

“I’m very much in favor of doing this,” said Harris, although he and McCaslin also said they need more details before making a decision.

Commissioner John Roskelley was out of town.

State laws probably prevent the county from giving land to the nonprofit groups, said county attorney Jim Emacio. But the land could be leased to the groups for $1 a year.

Among the groups promoting a community center are Catholic Family Charities, Central Valley and West Valley school districts, Planned Parenthood and the Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Located on the banks of the Spokane River at the old Walk in the Wild zoo site, Mirabeau Point will include a YMCA aquatic center, a senior citizen center, park and trails. The complex, a long-time dream of Valley activists, is under construction.

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