There was snow plan

As a retired employee of the former Entertainment Facilities Department of the City of Spokane, I take exception to John Blanchette’s column (Nov. 29, “City drops snowball at Albi”).

I also disagree with Randy Ryan’s revelation that there has never been snow removal equipment or a plan to plow snow at Albi.

    Throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, I was mostly in charge of snow removal at Albi. We never failed to provide a playable field. We always plowed at the first sign of snow (nights and holidays, too) and literally used tons of ice melt to maintain a playable field throughout the season and playoffs.

I remember one winter using a huge front-end loader to dump snow into the seating areas to provide room on the sidelines for the teams. I believe Gonzaga Prep beat South Kitsap in that game, and both schools applauded our efforts to provide a playable field.

In later years, we had a rubber-bitted plow blade for our truck.

The Parks Department took over operations at Albi in 2003, but the Entertainment Facilities Department always had a plan. “The show must go on” was our motto.

   Ryan can blame the Parks Department for not having a plan.

Wendell E. Smith

Spokane