This marks the year that the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council launches its Concerts in the Park series. The first of those concerts — and the only one for 2013 — will take place on Sunday, July 28 in Emerson Park (1116 W Alice) [map] from 4-6pm.
Admission to the concert is free. The R&B/soul band Island Soul will be performing, and Smokin’ Rome’s food truck will be on hand serving up his delicious BBQ and soul food. So it’ll be a feast for at least two of the five senses.
Concertgoers are encouraged to bring blankets, chairs and picnic items as well as friends and family — but please leave any alcohol at home. And that goes for trying to consume it discreetly, too. Otherwise it jeopardizes the possibility that these concerts will continue in the future.
Eline Helm has been instrumental (no pun intended) in getting these concerts off the ground. She arranged the venue, took out the necessary permits and insurance, sought out the band, and handled all the funding. Mallory Battista pitched in by designing the eye-catching poster you see above, and Jackie Wheler designed the promotional brochure that will be available at the concert.
We also had a very generous donor on the neighborhood council who ensured that we had the initial money to do all this. Neighborhood businesses who chipped in are Zip’s on N. Monroe, Caffe Delicio, the West Central Association of Businesses and the Corbin Park Homeowners Association. Hamilton Studio is kindly loaning their PA for use at the concert.
If things go smoothly and there’s an encouraging turnout, this year’s concert will serve as a stepping stone to more ambitious series in coming years, which will be held in both Corbin and Emerson Parks.
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.
We’re a bit late in posting the recap of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting that took place on April 10 — but better late than never, right?
As always, what follows is the digested version of events. The full minutes from the meeting are available for download here.
The meeting began a bit late due to persons of the political persuasion speaking to the group prior to the official start of the meeting. There was a brief discussion about the absence of any business owners in our neighborhood attending the meeting and how we might get some business owners to attend. Chair Liorah Wichser announced that she spoke with the Adult Education Center on Monroe and Montgomery and they have offered the use of their parking lot for some as yet unknown E-G sanctioned event. Just something to keep in mind for the future.
Garbage Czar Karl Boldt reported that the Spring Cleanup is on schedule and planned for Saturday, April 27 from 9am–12:30pm. [Ed. note: The Spring Cleanup was held and went exceedingly well.] It will again be held at Faith Bible Church, located on Cora, just east of Post street. We will be accepting garbage, “clean green” yard waste, recyclables and used electronics. Karl does have a crew available to pick up garbage for anyone who is not able to do it themselves. Dump passes from whatever money is left over will be available at the October E-G Meeting.
Eline Helm is trying to coordinate some summer concert events in our parks. She would like to do one in Emerson and one in Corbin. It was the consensus of those at the meeting that she should try for one in Emerson in July and see how that goes. It is tentatively scheduled for the last Sunday in July, which would be the 28th.
Movie nights are on hold.
The Emerson Community Garden, located on Madison just south of Emerson Park, is planning another season and they are starting off with a work day on Saturday, April 20th from 1-4pm.
Paul Kimball also reported that he has been working with neighborhood kids who hang around the park and putting them to work where he can. He would like to know if people in the neighborhood need work done around their properties. This is an excellent learning opportunity for these kids who are otherwise kind of aimless and gives them a chance to learn some discipline and skills and earn a little money. Contact Paul on (509) 863-5133 if you want to help out.
The next item on the agenda was election of officers. Megan Kennedy offered herself for Vice Chair, Jay Cousins will remain as Community Assembly, and Stan Burke will stay on as Secretary. The only office with two candidates was for Chair. E.J. Iannelli and Tom Powell gave brief speeches outlining why they wanted the job. A silent ballot was taken and E.J. won.
Corbin Senior Center: The yard sale scheduled at Corbin Senior Center for May was canceled due to lack of interest. Corbin received a grant from Rotary Club 21 for $821.43 for installation of an additional door in the storeroom of the Henderson Room. Corbin had three laptop computers stolen for a loss of $1,799.97. Insurance reimbursed them minus the $500.00 deductable. Laptops or iPads will be purchased to replace the missing items. Corbin is partnering with Lions Club for a breakfast on Saturday, April 27 from 8:30 to 11. So before you dump your garbage, have a hearty breakfast at Corbin. The Golf Scramble is coming June 21 at Indian Canyon.
New business: We have two high school interns available to us to develop our social media presence. STA held an open house prior to the evenings meeting which E.J. attended. They are trying to let the public know about the changes they are planning for routes. Molly Meyers from STA will be at our May meeting.
Neighborhood Planning: The Neighborhood Planning Committee has four members and they are proceeding as best they can. Jay Cousins reported that the Dept. of Neighborhood Services is offering adjacent neighborhoods the opportunity to pool their money in order to help create goals and policy statements but Jay has been unable to find an adjacent neighborhood interested in planning.
Nonprofit formation: Liorah reported that in order to form a nonprofit, we need board members; some of them will require some expertise. It will be almost essential to have a lawyer as a board member. Therefore, if you are a lawyer, or are thinking about becoming one, consider volunteering for this board!
Community Assembly: Jay had some questions to ask to find out the consensus of our group concerning proposed changes to the on street parking ordinance. Currently, the ordinance states that cars must be moved after 12 hours. The choices for the new change are to extend it to 24 hours, make it one business day with weekends excluded, or a designated time with weekends and holidays excluded. By a show of hands, the majority chose one business day with weekends excluded. Jay will report that to the Assembly.
Next Jay asked about the group’s desires for the next upcoming street bond. The group tied between street upgrades being curb to curb, meaning just the areas of the street from curb to curb being repaved and complete streets, which involves improvements to the street, the sidewalks, the parking strips and swales where needed.
Community Development: Sarah Kimball reported that 29 spots for sidewalk repair have been identified. That repair work will begin soon and continue until they run out of money. Not all spots will be repaired. The new playground equipment will soon be installed at Emerson.
Finally, Liorah presented two new official positions for the Emerson-Garfield committee. One is the Community Development Representative, which we have but is not listed in our bylaws, and the other is a Treasurer position. A motion was made to accept the new positions as written. The motion was seconded and passed without further discussion.
[Ed. note: This is a condensed version of the official minutes, which are available for download here.]
The March Edition of the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council came in like a lion at a couple of minutes after 7pm on March 13.
Chair Liorah Wichser started the meeting with a vote for a new logo for the Neighborhood Council. Three submissions had been submitted by three submittees, all of whom were present. A silent vote was taken and the winning logo was submitted by Liorah Wichser. It was a very fair vote and totally a coincidence that the Chair of the Committee has a name very similar to that of the the winning artist.
Thanks to Joe Snodgrass and Stan Burke for their artistic submissions. [Ed. note: All three logos will be featured in an upcoming post.]
Garbage Czar Karl Boldt spoke next and gave a report on the Neighborhood Clean-Up Day scheduled for Saturday, April 27 from 9am to 12:30pm. It will again be held in the parking lot of Faith Bible Church at 600 W Cora. There will be bins for garbage and clean green, just as in the past. In addition, there will be a recycling bin for metals of all kinds (other than radioactive) and an area for household hazardous waste. That means paint, chemicals and radioactive iridium 358. The Salvation Army will also be there to accept resellable items you would like to donate. [Ed. note: An upcoming post will have more information about Neighborhood Clean-Up Day.]
There will be a large furniture pick up scheduled for later in June. You need to register with Karl at (509) 325-3031.
Next was a brief update on the status of registering the group as a 501(c)(3) organization. Bylaws are being written up and a board of directors is going to be needed. The board will probably consist of 5 to 7 people and you can be one of them. Contact Liorah if you so desire.

Elections of new officers will be scheduled for next month. Liorah, E.J. and Stan are the nominating/railroading committee. Liorah has announced she is stepping down. E.J. has said he would like to become chair if no one else is so inclined, and Stan, your humble writer of minutes, will stay on for a fourth year if no one else wants the job, but he would also happily step aside. That means the vice chair and/or co-chair job is open and ready for someone like you. Contact anyone of the officers to submit yourself for electoral consideration.
The Corbin Senior Center has been buzzing with activity. The Luau was a great event. The 9th Movin’ & Groovin’ Fair was a happening event with 70 vendors, lots of great food and lots of people attending.
There will be a Pancake Breakfast on April 27 from 8:30 to 11am. Tickets are $7 per person and are available at the front desk or at the door the day of the event — so get some breakfast and then dump your garbage at the aforementioned Neighborhood Clean-Up.
Corbin and Emerson-Garfield will be holding a yard sale on May 11. The Corbin Golf Scramble will be at Indian Canyon on June 21 and sponsored by Pine Ridge Alzheimer’s Care Center.
The Neighborhood Planning Committee is still suffering from a woeful lack of attendance. Committee Chair Jay Cousins and one other person were at the last meeting. If you want a say in the future of how the neighborhood looks, the meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month at Corbin Senior Center. The next meeting is Thursday April 4 at 6pm. You should go.
Lt. Dean Sprague informed the group of the latest trends in crime in the neighborhood over the last month. There is all kinds of information available at www.spokanecops.org.
The Community Assembly met recently and discussed the stormwater/sewer project and heard a speech from the mayor.
In neighborhood news, Eline Helm is spearheading a Concert in the Park Series. Nothing is scheduled yet but this effort is underway and Eline would love more involvement.
Community Development rep Sara Kimball was not available but sent an update on sidewalks. Priorities are being organized for the 29 areas of concern. Not all areas will be addressed this year as funds (as always) are limited. The new swings in Corbin Park are in and two new horseshoe pits will be installed in the area of the old swing set. The new play equipment for Emerson Park has arrived and will be installed in late April.
The committee chose to recommend cross walks in the area of the Safeway store as the priority for our traffic calming projects.
With that, the meeting was adjourned at 9:12pm.