Board Loosens Purse Strings For Grandview Park

The Grandview neighborhood is going to get the new playfield it requested despite higher-than-expected costs for developing a small park at 17th Avenue and D Street.

The Spokane Park Board last week voted unanimously to increase the budget for developing Grandview Park from $200,000 to $225,000.

Parks officials said the extra money will allow the city to install an irrigated section of turf about 75 yards long in addition to other park improvements on the 5.6-acre parcel.

Money for the park is coming from a $15 million bond issue approved by voters a year ago.

Board President Steve Jones said the allocations for various projects were established in the original spending plan in 1999.

“It’s sort of an imprecise science,” Jones said.

After paying to have the park professionally designed and setting aside money for playground equipment, parks officials had $155,400 left for construction in the original allocation.

In August, Nelson Landscape Service Inc., of Colbert, gave the city a low bid of $126,517 for basic park construction plus $27,794 for the playfield.

The bid amounts did not include a state sales tax of 8.1 percent collected by the contractor.

Jim Gibson, construction manager, said he needed park board approval to increase spending on the Grandview Park above the $200,000 amount in the bond issue.

The additional allocation for Grandview Park will come from the interest earnings accruing on the unspent portion of the bond issue.

Gibson said some projects in the bond have cost less than anticipated, and a few are costing more.

Last week, the Park Board added $46,000 to the budget for buying new playground equipment at existing neighborhood parks. Site preparation costs were higher than expected, Gibson said.

Thirteen of the city’s 27 neighborhood parks are getting the new equipment this year. The other half will get the equipment next year.

Neighborhood councils throughout the city have been consulted about their preferences for the new play equipment.

At the end of August, more than $7 million had been spent and another $1.8 million worth of projects, including tax, were under contract for construction.

One of the contracts went to S.G. Morin and Sons Inc., Spokane, for new picnic shelters at Shadle and Mission parks and a new restroom at Shadle Park for a total of $263,548.

Shamrock Paving Inc., Spokane, is about to start work on repaving surfaces in Riverfront Park and new tennis courts at Comstock Park for $316,274.

Mike Coman Construction, Spokane, has a $283,006 contract for completing the development of Ben Burr Park on Moran Prairie.

Dennis Cleavenger Construction, Spokane, was awarded a contract of $465,888 for installation of neighborhood park play equipment.

Cleavenger is teaming up with Bacon Concrete Inc. and Glenn Prosser Construction, both of Spokane, on the 13 playground installations this fall.

Dennis Cleavenger told park officials he wants to finish the work by winter but has until April 1 to complete the job under the contract.

Neighborhood councils in the East Central, Hillyard and Shadle areas are reviewing choices for equipment installations at parks next year.