Parks part of single-listing proposal for landmarks panel

The Spokane City/County Historic Landmarks Commission is going to get a look next week at an unusual historic register proposal that would combine multiple Spokane city parks into a single listing.

The commission has scheduled a 2 p.m. training session Wednesday to review the proposal prior to a public hearing.

The session in the council briefing center at City Hall will be at the start of the landmarks commission’s monthly agenda.

Under the proposal, the landmarks commission is working with the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department to seek the multiple property listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Spokane’s oldest parks were part of a design by the renowned Olmsted Brothers, of Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1908.

By having the historic sites listed on the national register, the city gains formal recognition of the historic value of its parks as part of the fabric of the city.

Those parks contain elements of the historic City Beautiful Movement and Progressive Era.

The project is being funded through the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation and Spokane Preservation Advocates.

A final draft of the nomination is being admitted to the state preservation office on Monday, according to Lynn Mandyke, chair of the Spokane landmarks commission.

An earlier effort to complete a multiple-property listing for city parks stalled in 2013.