The Dirt: City gives updates to downriver disc golf course

Stormwater from about 5,000 acres of north Spokane collects at the Cochran Basin, an approximately 20-acre area adjacent to the Spokane River, west of the Downriver Golf Course.

This is the largest basin in Spokane, according to Kristin Davis, communications manager for the city of Spokane.

A $3.4 million dollar project has been ongoing to help ensure stormwater, that contains urban pollutants such as vehicle fluids, landscaping chemicals and sediment, is treated properly before it enters the river.

Cochran Basin Treatment Facilities is divided into multiple different efforts. These include the installation of large, underground pipes including one under Downriver Golf Course.

Water from the pipes end up at the Downriver Disc Golf Course. About 11 million gallons of water will be collected in a series of ponds that will filter and clean water through natural processes, Davis said.

“One of the best ways to treat stormwater is to use Mother Nature,” she said. “We’re going to create natural facilities to remove pollutants.”

The ponds will include stone, fabric filters, and special “bioretention soil,” which is engineered to treat stormwater, according to Davis.

“And we thought, ‘If we’re going to tear everything up, we might as well make it better above ground,’ ” Davis said.

This is why the city hired a professional disc golf course designer for a new, 18-hole course that will use the ponds as hazards.

The course will feature a paved parking lot, cement tee-pads and be “ready to go right away in the spring,” she said.

Additionally, work is largely completed on a new boat launch area for nonmotorized watercraft. This project makes water access easier and includes a new parking lot, walking trails, restrooms and landscaping.

In conjunction with the basin project, the Cochran Control Facility project includes a control system that further deters contamination of the river.

At the southeast corner of the TJ Meenach bridge, the vault is referred to as “the brain” of the stormwater system because it controls storm water and sewage overflow tanks, Davis said.

“The whole idea is to minimize what comes out of the outfalls and clean it before it ends up in the river,” Davis said.

The tank system has been in place for two years but the control vault will be installed and completed around mid-2024, Davis said.

Cochran Control Facility project is estimated to cost about $7.2 million.

New gas station

Commercial building permits have been issued by Spokane County to construct a Maverik, Inc. gas station and convenience store near the recently opened section of the North Spokane Corridor.

Located at the corner of North Freya Street and East Francis Avenue, the current vacant lot encompasses 2.3 acres.

The lot is just south of the substantial interchange of the freeway and North Freya Street.

The 5,637-square-foot building is estimated to cost about $2 million.

The contractor listed is Airway Heights-based Piersol Construction, Inc. Salt Lake City-based architectural firm Prescott Muir Architect designed the building.

Tod Stephens can be reached at (509) 459-5581 or by email at TodS@spokesman.com.