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Category: Suggestion

Corbin Park Swing Set Proposal

Corbin Park Swing Set Proposal

We received the following e-mail from Garrett Jones at the City of Spokane Parks & Recreation department:

The City of Spokane Parks and Recreation Department Operations Division is looking at updating a number of swing sets in the park system.

One of our highest priorities is addressing the swing structure at Corbin Park. Our proposal is to replace the existing swings next to the tennis courts and replace them with a two bay (four swings total) arch swing structure. We would like to relocate the new swings closer to the existing play structure to accommodate families and maintenance needs. The project would include the new swing structure, concrete containment curb and resilient surfacing (engineered wood fiber). There would be at least one toddler swing.

I have attached a general concept of the area we would possibly locate the swings [image below]. I have outlined two possible locations. The preferred location will be selected that will have the least amount of impact of existing conditions. I have also included a picture of type of structure we are proposing. This picture was taken at High Bridge Park where we recently installed a new playground.

The Park Operations staff is hoping to to proceed with this project provided that there are no concerns raised by our neighborhood. New and updated swing sets are always welcome, but there might be an issue we’ve overlooked.

If you have questions or concerns about this proposal, you can contact Garrett directly at gjones@spokanecity.org or simply leave a comment below. We’ll compile all feedback, if any, and present it to him.

The timeframe seems to be quite short on this, so the issue might not be able to wait until our August potluck/council meeting. We’ll post more if that changes.

Little Free Libraries

Little Free Libraries

Have you seen this story about Little Free Libraries on KREM (video below)?


The basic idea behind it is this: A small, sheltered bookshelf — a bit like an oversized birdhouse — next to the sidewalk outside your home functions as a mini lending library. It’s filled with a tiny portion of the books you might otherwise take to, say, Booktraders on Garland. Passersby are free to borrow the books inside and, ideally, return them when finished. Or leave some books of their own in exchange.

One example of a little free library.

From a practical standpoint, yes, it does open itself up to theft and vandalism. But these secondhand books wouldn’t be worth much to any book buyer, and besides, anything placed near any public right of way (e.g., flowers, planters, fences, mailboxes) is a potential vandalism target. It’s also worth considering that neighborhoods in disregard and disrepair tend to foster more vandalism than well-kept ones.

The fact that this has already been implemented in a few places in Spokane also shows that it’s neither impossible nor impractical.

Emerson-Garfield in particular has plenty of streets named after American presidents and local historical figures, but very little that commemorates our national and regional writers. We haven’t even had a neighborhood library branch since 1967. Wouldn’t it be great to fill this gap by making books — especially those by lesser-known Spokane writers like Vachel Lindsay and Bruce Holbert — available to everyone on a much more personal and grassroots level?

In other words, it’s worth considering the idea of little lending libraries for a neighborhood-wide initiative. If it’s something you might like to participate in (or even spearhead!), please contact us.

More on Little Free Libraries, which has found support across America, is here.