Rediscover Riverfront Park

There’s no mistaking the excited squeals that echo off the cement walls at the Riverfront Park Pavilion: the rides remain a summer hit.

Sure, the park turned 30 years old this weekend, and from an adult’s perspective not much is new. But judging from the hordes of sunscreen-scented kids that run from ride to ride, that really doesn’t matter. Lines still form at the bumper cars, the tiny little train and the scary black Spider.

“We used to get season passes all the time, then for a while we didn’t get them,” said Candy Bean, who was at the park with her four children last week. “Then this year, we decided to give it another shot and the kids really love it. They want to go more than we actually can go.”

Bean’s friend, Susan Kammerer, also of Spokane, had this suggestion: “I wish they had a roller skating rink – that would be so cool.”

For children who are too big for the rides, there are plenty of other things to do.

One is never too big or old to take a ride on the 1909 Looff Carrousel – just remember you can’t run through the fountain first: wet clothes are not allowed on the antique horses.

The familiar concession by the Carrousel stand has gotten a facelift and is now the Boulevard Bistro.

The menu includes chicken strips and fries, meat kebabs and rice bowls, as well as frozen treats, soda and coffee; since Hoopfest it’s been selling beer and wine, too.