Browsed by
Tag: City of Spokane

Open House Tonight on Changes Downtown

Open House Tonight on Changes Downtown

The City of Spokane is inviting citizens to an open house this evening (Monday, August 19) to learn about changes planned for Post Street near City Hall and related projects that are expected to transform that area in west downtown along the Spokane River.

The open house will be held in the Chase Gallery in the lower level of City Hall, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd [map] from 4:30 to 6pm. Staff also will brief the City Council on the projects during the council’s regular 6pm Monday night meeting in the adjacent Council Chambers.

The following projects and proposals will be discussed at the open house:

  • Post Street improvements. In the coming weeks, Post Street between Spokane Falls Boulevard and the Post Street Bridge will be converted to a one-way, northbound street. Additionally, North Lincoln Street from the Post Street Bridge north to Broadway Avenue will be converted to a three-lane street with parallel parking on both sides. The area will be more pedestrian friendly and provide a good link to a Centennial Trail extension through Veterans Park and Kendall Yards on the north side of the River. Parking in the area will increase through the addition of angled parking on Post and the changes on Lincoln Street. Post Street will be closed from Sept. 10 to Oct. 15 for work related to the changes.
  • Huntington Park and City Plaza improvements. Avista is working to upgrade its 3.8-acre Huntington Park area on the south side of the Spokane River between Post and Monroe streets and adjacent to the river’s lower falls. In addition, Avista is creating a new public plaza in what has been a small parking lot to the north of City Hall. The plaza will be gifted to the City of Spokane when complete as part of Avista’s 125th anniversary celebration in 2014. These projects are managed and paid for by Avista. The Post Street enhancement, which is a City project, will support this work, by increasing pedestrian access and calming traffic.
  • Riverfront Park Master Plan. The changes on Post and at Huntington Park will tie into work to create a new Master Plan for Riverfront Park. The Master Plan process is designed to guide plans for a major reinvestment in Riverfront Park as the 40th anniversary of Expo ’74 nears. More information on the master plan process can be found here.
  • Glover Field concept and Integrated Clean Water Plan. Additional investment also is being considered for this area. The City has developed conceptual plans for a tank in Glover Field in Peaceful Valley that would prevent flows from combined sewers from entering the Spokane River. The project would be part of a significant effort to improve the health of Spokane River and reduce stormwater and combined stormwater and wastewater from entering the River. The City’s goals for this work include gaining multiple public benefits when building infrastructure. For Glover Field, as a result, the City has developed a concept to improve the park and add a trail that would connect Huntington Park to Glover Field. Ultimately, this project could include a trail loop between Monroe Street and the Sandifur pedestrian bridge.

A fact sheet about the open house, the Post Street improvements, and the Avista work is available here.

Urban Farming Open House, July 30

Urban Farming Open House, July 30

The Spokane City Council and Planning and Development Services Department is hosting an Urban Farming Open House on Tuesday, July 30 from 5:30 to 7:30pm in Room 1A/1B of the Downtown Branch of the Spokane Public Library (906 W Main) [map].

The event was organized in response to increasing local interest in urban farming, which is gaining popularity throughout the country. Organizations like Project HOPE (the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council’s partner for the Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Market), community gardens like the Emerson Community Garden, and The Father’s Table (a neighborhood small business) can all be considered part of the urban farming movement, not to mention private residences scattered throughout the neighborhood and indeed the city.

Urban Farming Open House Flyer

The City Council and the Planning Department are leading this effort to research, evaluate and develop a system to better support and provide regulations for urban farming. The goal is to get an ordinance passed by the end of the year.

The workshop will be for the purpose of discussing ideas and generating comments on possible changes to city code that could create a more consistent, predictable and streamlined system for urban farmers.

For more information, contact Tirrell Black at tblack@spokanecity.org or (509)-625-6185.

Free Training: How to Engage the Community

Free Training: How to Engage the Community

The Office of Neighborhood Services is providing another free session as part of its Neighborhood Training series. This one is called Organizational Success: How to Engage the Community, and it will take place on Monday, July 29 from 6-7:30pm at the West Central Community Center (1603 N Belt) [map].

Like its title suggests, this training session will teach you how to reach out to, interact with and involve the community in your neighborhood organization. This training is ideal for neighborhood councils of all shapes and sizes, but it’s open to anyone who wants to attend — which means senior centers, nonprofits, churches, schools, and other organizations in that vein.

BSN Organizational Success Flyer

The ONS’ last training session, which focused on social media, was overbooked and received very positive feedback from the participants.

To reserve your spot for Organizational Success: How to Engage the Community, get in touch with Jackie Caro at (509) 625-6733 or jcaro@spokanecity.org.

New Public Plaza by Spokane City Hall

New Public Plaza by Spokane City Hall


Here’s a heads up on downtown construction and road closures that was issued by City Hall on Friday:

A new public plaza is planned in the parking lot north of City Hall that will include seating and gathering space for events. In appreciation of the 125-year partnership between WWP/Avista and the people of Spokane, the newly developed City Hall Plaza will be a gift from Avista Corp. shareholders to the City of Spokane.

Work on City Hall Plaza will begin on Tuesday, July 23. The north parking lot will close permanently following the City Council meeting on Monday, July 22. Three handicapped spots will be moved to the lot on the southwest side of City Hall.

Improvements will also be made to Post Street, which will close for several weeks beginning in mid-September. The Post Street project will be finished in late fall.

Current parking options during construction:

  • Street parking will be available before work begins on Post Street and after it is finished.
  • River Park Square parking garage with skywalk accessibility to City Hall.

More information on the Huntington Park improvement is given in this Spokesman-Review story. Avista also blogged about it here.

Proposed Changes to Photo Red: Your Input Is Needed

Proposed Changes to Photo Red: Your Input Is Needed

The Spokane City Council is currently looking at the Photo Red program to see if they want to recommend to the Spokane Police Department to move forward with retaining or amending the contract language.

Neighborhood councils like ours need to be proactive when it comes time for open discussion as to where those funds may be allocated. There is expected to be discussion as to using some of the funds for purposes other than neighborhood traffic calming projects such as roundabouts and speed limit signs. Right now, Photo Red funds can only be used for traffic calming, and a recent vote by the EGNC came out in favor of keeping it this way.

The Community Assembly (which is sort of a roundtable of all Spokane neighborhood councils) is asking for our feedback on this issue so as to introduce it as a discussion topic for the City Council this autumn.

We ask that residents of Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood take the following informal poll(s) so we can provide feedback to the Community Assembly.

[yop_poll id=”2″]
[yop_poll id=”3″]

If you voted “No” on the poll titled Photo Red Funding, please use the comments section below to suggest where you would spend Photo Red funds in addition to neighborhood traffic calming projects.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!