Pools, parks will benefit from capital spending

Parks in Spokane Valley could see $3.55 million in improvements over the next year or two as the city begins spending a special capital fund on pools, playground equipment and other amenities.

“We’ve all been doing a lot of planning in the last few years, and hopefully we can go now and put some projects on the ground,” Parks and Recreation Director Mike Jackson said at Tuesday’s council meeting.

Last summer the council decided to spend $1.6 million inherited from the county on upgrading Valley Mission, Park Road and Terrace View pools, adding deck space and additional water features. The city is negotiating engineering and architectural contracts for the work at Valley Mission, Jackson said.

The biggest change to the parks inventory likely will be the addition of an eight-acre park next to a proposed school site in the Greenacres neighborhood. The city has applied for a state grant to help purchase the land at Mission and Long and has set aside $600,000 in next year’s budget.

So far, the Greenacres park has been ranked 14th of 69 applicants for the grant, and City Manager Dave Mercier said the grant program as a whole saw support in the budget proposed by Gov. Chris Gregoire on Tuesday.

The odds of receiving the funds seem to be in the Spokane Valley’s favor, but city officials cautioned that nothing is final until the budget is approved and the city receives the money.

“We’d like to verify that before we do any celebrating,” Mercier said.

If all goes as planned, the city will apply for another grant in 2008 to develop the park.

There are also improvements in the works for existing parks in Spokane Valley. The Parks Department is recommending that the aging picnic shelter at Valley Mission Park be replaced with two, smaller shelters. There are also plans to replace the playground equipment at Valley Mission and move it back from the road.

The wooden overlook at Mirabeau Springs will be replaced with a more durable metal and plastic structure.

The city also plans to replace the old wooden signs identifying the parks and add signs with park rules.

The budget sets aside $12,000 for more park lighting and $25,000 for playground repairs throughout the system.