Youth Center completes relocation to Browne’s Addition

The Peaceful Valley Youth Center has completed its move to Browne’s Addition and settled in the downstairs area of All Saints Lutheran Church on Spruce Street, just across from Coeur d’Alene Park in Spokane.

The church underwent extensive remodeling – including the installation of a wheelchair ramp from Spruce Street, a lift and a partial sprinkler system. Most of the $300,000 the youth center had raised for the move has been spent, and the Rev. Alan Eschenbacher said the church kicked in another $20,000.

The youth center opened Dec. 1.

Director Mark Reilly said the move was fairly smooth.

“The families like it, the kids like it, it all worked out,” Reilly said. “Now all we need is more kids.”

Reilly said 18 children from Roosevelt Elementary School and Sacajawea Middle School participate in the program which runs from 3-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“We are trying to set something up with Wilson Elementary School, as well,” Reilly said, adding that school is conveniently located for busing.

The program costs $100 a month for one child, and some scholarships are available for low-income families.

The youth center’s move to Browne’s Addition upset some neighbors when it was first announced. Timothy J. Finneran, communications officer for the Browne’s Addition Neighborhood Council, said some neighbors still have “a trust issue” with the center, because they feel like they haven’t gotten straight answers about the scope of it.

“Now they changed the name to the Southwest Spokane Community Center,” Finneran said. “We had a problem with that because it expands the scope of the center.”

Reilly said the name has not been officially changed yet, but it may have to happen if the youth center wants to retain funding from the city of Spokane. Browne’s Addition – and southwest Spokane – does not have a community center.

Jonathan Mallahan, director of the city of Spokane’s Neighborhood and Community Services Division, said the Peaceful Valley Youth Center is not being treated or funded any differently after its move.

Mallahan said the city encourages nonprofit organizations to create partnerships in the communities they serve.

“We ask that of every nonprofit we work with,” Mallahan said. “We want the best outcome for the community.”

Finneran said neighbors worry an expanded center will bring more traffic into the neighborhood. At the neighborhood meetings a year ago, many were concerned that expanded social services at the church would created camping and loitering problems in Coeur d’Alene Park.

The neighborhood council and the youth center have agreed to discuss how to mitigate potential issues at meetings separate from the ordinary neighborhood council meetings this spring.

“I’d say the neighborhood has been pretty accepting of us,” Reilly said.

In the meantime, the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department is trying to figure out what to do with the old youth center building in Peaceful Valley.

The Peaceful Valley Neighborhood Council would like to continue to use the building as a meeting space, but Leroy Eadie, director of Spokane Parks, said a new tenant would have to be found for the building.

“We can’t justify keeping a building open for two or three meetings a month,” Eadie said, adding that a tenant could be a city organization or perhaps a nonprofit.

The building is a fairly rundown, former military barrack.

The Glover Field area, where the building is located, is a residential zone, so a business couldn’t be opened there, Eadie said.

The neighborhood has spent a lot of community development money on the building over the years, and Eadie said he hopes they can find a solution.

“It’s amazing that we got the years out of the building that we did,” Eadie said.