Neighborhoods like being green

At least eight Spokane city parks – from a small river overlook to three midsized neighborhood parks – have been built across the city over the past two decades through the initiative of citizen activists. Meanwhile, larger park projects have languished at City Hall.

The initiatives for the parks came from dozens of people who saw a need for playgrounds and open spaces and pushed their dreams to completion.

One of those people is Annie Pierce, who has spent 18 years shepherding development of Grandview Park a short distance from her home in southwest Spokane.

The idea for the park came about because children gathered at the corner of Grandview Avenue and D Street and had no place to play safely.

“I said the need is here now,” Pierce said.

The land for Grandview Park was acquired in 1992 from a larger parcel of city-owned property.

The 5.6-acre park, which includes a natural area with native wildflowers, trees and shrubs, was developed in stages after Pierce and her neighbors raised $4,800 in donations to get the project moving in the late 1990s.

This summer, Grandview Park will be getting a picnic pavilion and a five-spray water feature to go with its basketball court, restrooms, picnic tables, play field and play sets.

Money for the additional amenities came through the sale of the city-owned property adjacent to the park. That land is being developed for homes by Greenstone Corp., based in Liberty Lake.

Greenstone, which promotes community assets in its developments, matched a $40,000 park contribution from City Hall and is providing crews and professional services for the park work, Pierce said.

“Annie was a driver from the get-go,” said Taylor Bressler, projects manager for the city Parks and Recreation Department. “She never let up.”

A voter-approved bond issue in 1999 paid for a number of the park’s existing features.

Pierce’s children are now grown, but visiting grandchildren will have a place to play, she said.

“I think it’s a great legacy,” Pierce said.

At the same time, parks officials have yet to see completion of a sports complex at Joe Albi Stadium, a science center north of Riverfront Park and improvements in neighborhood swimming pools.

The neighborhood parks built over the past 20 years are scattered throughout the city. A number of them were built in low-income areas, where local steering committees designated federal community development block grant money for the parks.

The seven other parks developed through neighborhood leadership in the past 20 years are:

“ A small “pocket park” at Fairview Avenue and Dakota Street opened in 2003, but it only now is getting its play equipment this summer.

Fairview Park, which has a great view southward toward downtown Spokane, was a joint project of the Logan and Nevada-Lidgerwood neighborhood committees, which used community development money to complete the project at a cost of about $160,000.

Jeanette Harras, of the Logan neighborhood, said the park took about six years to complete – not bad, she said, considering how long it has taken the city Parks and Recreation Department to develop other projects.

“ Kehoe Park at Nelson Street and Wabash Avenue in Hillyard was envisioned in the early 1980s when Hillyard neighborhood leaders said they wanted to buy about a dozen older homes in the block south of St. Patrick’s Catholic School.

The houses were acquired a few at a time with community development funds dedicated for use in Hillyard. The park partially opened in 1990; it was completed in 2002 at a cost of $640,000 in community development funds.

Agnes Kehoe was an early neighborhood activist whose causes included education, health care, youth and fighting poverty.

“ Polly Judd Park at 14th Avenue and Cherry Street in Historic Cannon’s Addition was completed in 1997 after neighborhood activists sought to block construction of a nursing home there.

When the developer pulled out, the neighborhood won a 5.7-acre park, which was funded in large measure through state grants and $131,000 in community development money.

The park’s name commemorates a resident of the area who, along with her husband, originally owned the land. Polly Judd was a renowned gardener who promoted lilacs and the “Lilac City” nickname for Spokane.

“ Ben Burr Park at 43rd Avenue and Havana Street in the Moran Prairie area was completed in 2002 after 12 years of effort, including neighborhood fundraising and donations of labor and materials by contractors in the area.

As with Grandview Park, money from a voter-approved bond issue in 1999 was used to complete the park. Moran Prairie, like the Grandview area, is not a community development neighborhood.

Ben Burr was a district rail engineer involved in the interurban line that eventually became the Ben Burr Trail in south Spokane. The old rail line passed to the west of the park.

“ Loren Kondo Park is another Hillyard project that was opened in 1998 at Florida Street and Longfellow Avenue.

The two-lot park cost $125,000 and was funded with community development money.

It is named after a city planner who died in 1995. Co-workers sought the park to commemorate Kondo.

“ Parkwater Park at Koren Avenue and Commerce Street is another minipark developed through the Chief Garry Park neighborhood steering committee, which used $90,000 of its community development funds for the project, completed in 1998.

“ Pettet Overlook, at the top of Doomsday Hill on Pettet Drive, was developed in 2004 and 2005 with $60,000 in community development funds from the West Central neighborhood.

In addition to building parks, low-income neighborhoods also have invested in existing parks.

Browne’s Addition is using community development money to pay for a $150,000 water spray area in Coeur d’Alene Park. The city Parks and Recreation Department is contributing $50,000 to the project this summer.

At Mission Park, a half-court basketball area and accessible play equipment are planned. The Rotary Club is sponsoring the play equipment in conjunction with the neighborhood, said Harras, of the Logan neighborhood.

In addition, community organizations such as Friends of Manito, which raises money for Manito Park improvements, and volunteers at the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens are examples of how residents’ involvement has helped city parks, said Kevin Brownlee of the city’s Community Development Department.

Bressler said community development funds have been critical in bringing new parks into the city, especially when ongoing budget problems have limited spending by City Hall.

He said activists who identify, promote, plan and complete neighborhood park projects have provided the city with more than new public green spaces.

“It’s community ownership,” he said. “It strengthens the neighborhoods.”