Funding will focus on East Sprague
City of Spokane wins grant for neighborhood revitalization
The idea to focus public investment dollars on the diminished stretch of East Sprague Avenue in Spokane has been around City Hall for a year and half, but it took a big step forward last month as the city won grant money for “smart growth” training and was shortlisted for state money focused on bicycle and pedestrian safety.
Spokane was just one of 14 communities nationwide to be given a grant from Smart Growth America, which advocates for city planning to consider environmental, farmland and historic preservation, among other issues. The grant is funded through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Sustainable Communities, and will provide technical assistance focus on “transit-oriented development, integrated street projects, smart growth policies, economic development and fiscal health, parking management and regional planning,” Mayor David Condon said.
At the same time, the city is in the running to win $1.5 million from the state Department of Transportation that would be used to build pedestrian refuge islands on Sprague’s busier intersections as well as street lights for pedestrian safety. The grant will be awarded later this year.
Standing in the sunlit showroom of the Tin Roof, with its high-end furnishings on what is usually considered a low-end part of town, Condon lauded the work of people in and out of City Hall.
“Both are significant next steps in the great progress for East Sprague businesses, residents and commuters,” Condon said of the grants. “Those results can be attributed to the businesses and community leaders who have worked with us as elected officials on a redevelopment vision, and the hard work of city staff to turn those ideas into actionable plans.”
Council President Ben Stuckart is credited with envisioning the Sprague investment plan and remains a driving force behind implementing it. The idea is to pool separate funding streams that long have been used piecemeal around town and focus them on one neighborhood, beginning with East Sprague.
In all, about $32 million in projects are planned for the neighborhood in the next few years.
Stuckart said in a statement that the planning done on East Sprague with the new funding “will help us build policies around our plan that can be replicated elsewhere in the city.”