YMCA buyout could go on ballot

Spokane city voters might be asked as early as next spring to approve a bond issue to buy the YMCA property in Riverfront Park.

The Spokane Park Board this week told the City Council that it has arranged for some temporary financing for a down payment on that prime piece of property, to keep a high-rise condominium unit out. They would then ask voters to seal the deal or let it be sold.

“People of Spokane should have the opportunity to say ‘Yea’ or ‘Nay,’ ” said Ron Rector of the Park Board.

Park Board members told council members in a special joint meeting that they were confident voters would say yes, given the chance. Current plans call for the Parks Department to use the pool in the current building for several decades as part of its aquatics program and use the basketball courts to set up leagues. Some department offices could be consolidated into the building, and other space could be leased to professional firms such as lawyers or accountants

Park Board President Frank Knott said the ballot measure might be offered next year, “sometime in the spring, between Hoopfest and Bloomsday.” At that point, Riverfront Park will be at its maximum use, and the Shadle Park pool will be shut down.

With Bloomsday in early May and Hoopfest at the end of June, state law would allow for a special election in mid-May. Starting next year, the primary election, which in 2007 will include candidates for mayor, city council president and three council seats in Spokane, will be held in August.

City Parks Director Mike Stone said Tuesday there is no firm date for an election, adding the board “is not even close to thinking about that.”

But Park Board members were clear that they viewed the possible sale of the YMCA building to a developer who could use the land for a high-rise condominium as “a crisis.”

“It would do irreparable harm to our park, forever,” said board member Steve McNutt. “There isn’t anywhere in the civilized world that has a monolithic focal element in the middle of their central park.”

Public reaction to the suggestion of a private housing development in the park has so far been overwhelmingly negative, Knott added.

Council members questioned the purchase price of the property, currently estimated at $5.7 million because of an offer the YMCA has received. Under a lease provision for the parking lot, the city has the right to buy the property by matching an offer.

Councilwoman Mary Verner said she wondered how a “landlocked piece of land” inside the park with limited traffic access could be worth that much, but Knott said that was also the assessed value.

The Park Board was able to put $150,000 toward the purchase of the property and has another $850,000 available through a bank loan at 1 percent interest. There is also a possibility of a 30-year bank loan for the purchase price if the bond issue proposal falls through, Knott said, using the building and a nearby parking lot as collateral.

“The banking community has been tremendously supportive,” he said.