Idea for CdA gardens reseeded

A proposed tribute garden to Duane Hagadone’s parents is back in bloom.

While Coeur d’Alene’s business community decided this week to give the controversial idea another look, Post Falls officials hoped Hagadone would seize their offer to build the garden in their city’s Black Bay Park.

On Tuesday, the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce will hand deliver a letter to Hagadone, asking him to resubmit a proposal to the city for the $20 million memorial gardens downtown, which would require closing two blocks of Sherman Avenue.

The letter was prompted by “discussion of the gardens going to Post Falls and interest in making sure it has a full, fair hearing here,” said chamber manager Jonathan Coe.

The chamber’s 22 board members unanimously endorsed the letter during a Thursday board meeting.

In December, Hagadone pulled his proposal to close two blocks of Coeur d’Alene’s busiest downtown street for the garden because he didn’t want the idea to go to an advisory vote. He said the vote could divide the community and torpedo the library and public safety bonds that were to be on the same ballot.

Many locals were angered by what they saw as a self-serving proposal from Coeur d’Alene’s most prominent businessman. The proposed gardens would been adjacent to Hagadone’s Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Consultants hired by the Coeur d’Alene Downtown Association and the city said they liked the garden concept, but indicated that closing Sherman would hurt business.

Downtown Association manager Terry Cooper said the idea needs to be revisited, giving the public an opportunity to offer various options or alternatives that might be compatible for downtown.

“People feel that the gardens as a whole would be a nice thing to have,” Cooper said. “There are just questions about how it would be and where it would be placed.”

Proposed traffic changes remain a concern for some merchants, Coe acknowledged Friday.

“Duane has been trying to take concerns into account,” Coe said. The proposal “has changed, though the specifics are still pending.”

Hagadone did not return phone calls this week. Coe declined to outline proposal changes, but said the garden’s size and location would remain the same.

Hagadone has described the garden as similar in quality to the renowned Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C. The idea hatched after his father, Burl Hagadone, died of cancer in 1959. Duane Hagadone’s mother, Beverly Hagadone, died in 1984.

Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin said the garden could be built in his town without any controversy.

“We stand ready to help Mr. Hagadone any way we can,” Larkin said Friday. “If he chooses to do the park here we would be just thrilled beyond words.”

But Larkin said it’s not a competition between Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls.

“This is Mr. Hagadone’s decision,” Larkin said. “If he chooses to go back to Coeur d’Alene we applaud the effort. It would be just a wonderful thing not just for Post Falls but all North Idaho.”

Larkin said Hagadone approached Post Falls after the garden concept was rejected in Coeur d’Alene. Initially Hagadone was interested in working with Spokane developer Harry Green, who wants to turn the former Louisiana-Pacific Mill site on Spokane Avenue into a downtown-like development.

When that idea fizzled, Hagadone called Larkin and asked him to find another location. Larkin said that within 48 hours they offered Hagadone the 60-acre Black Bay Park that’s south of Third Avenue. The park along the Spokane River has plenty of room for the garden, which would be squeezed into 3.4 acres in Coeur d’Alene, Larkin said. In addition, the park’s rocky terrain and natural features would make an ideal garden spot, he said.

Black Bay Park would remain public, but Hagadone would cover the cost of creating the garden and maintaining it, according to Larkin.