Plaza near City Hall gets new name

The new plaza next to Spokane City Hall has a new name: the Spokane Tribal Gathering Place.

Spokane City Council members unanimously approved the name, which will be accompanied by the phrase, “The Place Where Salmon is Prepared,” written in Salish, the region’s native language.

The plaza was designed and built by Avista to celebrate the utility company’s 125th anniversary. It was then donated to the city.

Council President Ben Stuckart worked closely with the Spokane Tribe to find an appropriate name for the plaza, which sits between City Hall and Avista’s buildings on Post Street near the falls.

Stuckart also suggested naming a stage in the plaza or in adjoining Riverfront Park, as well as an annual music festival, after Som Jordan, a local musician who died last year.

Anne Walter, a friend of Jordan’s, told the council he was “a writer, a poet, a musician, a scholar, a wonderful person, but more than anything, he was a catalyst. … There is nobody I know who worked harder to bring people together.”