Together Spokane: Schools, parks $440 million tax proposal focuses on growth in Southwestern part of the city

A new playground, a splash pad, a gazebo, a turf field, sport courts, a parking lot, even a dog park could be coming to the “rapidly developing” Latah/Hangman Neighborhood in southwestern Spokane.

Development of a new park could be in store for the edge of the city if voters approve the city parks department’s $240 million levy in November, with details pending passage and community input on what the park could look like.

The city owns 16 acres in the Latah/Hangman Neighborhood, west of Highway 195, situated next to a chunk of land owned by Spokane Public Schools. The school district also has a property tax proposal on ballots, seeking to issue $200 million in bonds that would pay for planning for a new elementary school on that land.

The new park and plans for a new school are two of around 200 projects the city parks department and school district seek to fund through the property tax measures. The two are separate ballot items, but if they both pass, schools and parks would partner to accomplish more projects.

Together Spokane, the name of the dual campaign, promises to touch every corner of the city in small and large ways, including a few major projects slated for schools within the boundaries of Lewis and Clark High School, which accounts for the southwestern part of the city.

The LC boundary’s northern border follows the Spokane River east to Division Street, and then follows I-90 until it connects with Altamont Street, which divides LC’s and Ferris’ boundaries.

The Lewis and Clark High School boundary already contains some of the city’s most notable parks, including Manito and the John A. Finch Arboretum, three golf courses and significant sections of open land. The parks levy on ballots this November would both overhaul Grant Park in the South Perry District and create a brand new neighborhood park in the Qualchan Hills area.

The new Qualchan Hills Park would border Qualchan Drive to the south and U.S. 195 to the northeast, serving communities in the semi-rural developments next to the Qualchan Golf Course.

Like with each of the three new parks being proposed if the levy were approved, the goal of Qualchan Hills Park would be to expand the neighborhoods that can walk to a family-friendly park in ten minutes or less. There are a handful of neighborhood parks a roughly 40-minute walk from the Qualchan Hills site, as well as the natural lands area of High Drive Bluff Park just a bit further to the north – though whether the latter is ideal for neighborhood children is slippery, as evidenced by the two young boys who slid down the bluffs in March and had to be rescued by firefighters.

The proposed 10-acre park would include a playground, bathroom, splash pad and other park amenities. Local leaders hope to build a park on the north side and an elementary on the south side of this property, though the school district will not immediately be able to afford to build the school, so the agencies would pause on developing either until both can be built simultaneously, likely in the 2030s, Together Spokane campaigners said earlier this year.

Grant Park in the South Perry District would also be one of three major park renovations under the Together Spokane plan, including a new courtyard space for the neighborhood’s farmers market, replacement of one parking lot and upgrades to another, improvements to the playground, a new splash pad and athletic facilities.

Several trails in or near the area would see improvements, including at Edwidge Woldson Park and High Drive Bluff.

Each school building would get funds from the bond for regular maintenance projects.

Though not a park or a school, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture would stand to benefit from the passage of the levy and bond. The museum would pitch in to build an offsite storage facility to be used by all three entities.

There’s more than 20,000 square feet of space on the museum’s campus used for storage. By partnering with the city and schools, the museum could convert storage space into exhibit space, intending to display pieces like plateau tribal artifacts, local art and regional history to be part of a permanent collection, said Wes Jessup, executive director of the museum.

“The hope is to bring the areas out so that the school district can build a curriculum around it, so that tourists who are coming to Spokane can understand the region better through the art and history and tribal cultural material,” Jessup said. “It would be more of an institution-defining move for us to have a permanent collection gallery that told the stories of the region.”