Without library, Balfour Park needs new plan

The city of Spokane Valley must rethink its plans for the 8.4 acres across from the site of the new City Hall.

A master plan approved by the City Council in 2013 featured Balfour Park to be constructed at the east end of the property. The new park would include a splash pad, picnic shelters, public art and a reading garden, but it always counted on the new library being built on the west end.

“Now that the library is not going in there, the master plan for Balfour Park will have to be redone,” said Mike Stone, director of Spokane Valley Parks and Recreation Department. “We essentially have 3 more acres to deal with.”

The Spokane County Library District announced last week that it won’t try for a third time to pass the $22 million bond needed to build the new library branch. Instead, it will ask the city to buy back the land at Sprague Avenue and Herald Road.

The City Council will consider the request on Dec. 29. The cost is $839,285 – the same amount as the library paid in 2013. Part of the land deal was always that the city would buy it back if the library bond did not pass; the deal will expire in 2017.

Stone said he was disappointed that there will not be a library on the site.

“We went through the master plan design process and had lots of public input into the plan,” Stone said. “It really is too bad.”

City Manager Mike Jackson said the estimated cost of Balfour Park as designed was $3.9 million, but funding was never allocated.

Jackson said the library was always part of the overall concept, though the city recognized the library bond might not pass.

“The park is not dead,” Jackson said, “it’s not like we put all our eggs in one basket.”

There’s no timeline for when the Balfour Park master plan may come up for revision, nor has a funding source been located.

Stone said a new City Council taking office in early January could mean all sorts of change and any new developments would be in the hands of the council.

“Funding would be something to be discussed by the City Council,” Stone said.