Four the Future - December 22

Changes, and their regional ripple effects, in and around Riverfront Park.

• YWCA’s riverfront land sold for $3.2 million
  Source: Spokesman-Review; December 17, 2010
  Summary: The land on the north side of the river where the YWCA used to be has been sold to Lawrence Stone. The property overlooks the north channel of the river.
  Opinion: This property is situated north of Anthony’s, west of the pedestrian bridge to Riverfront Park’s Canada Island, east of the future Native American museum, and two blocks from the Arena. Any function there would be well advised to take advantage of the high community and tourist traffic. Perhaps a mix of retail and some professional offices with upper level residential to overlook the falls would be profitable. A quick jaunt over to Spokane’s site selector would help determine appropriate long term uses. By all means, however, make sure you have good public access along the top of the gorge so that people can easily travel through your property to get between the arena, bridge, museum, and restaurant. It will give you the opportunity to sell something to them on the way without having to supply them with a parking space.
  
• Beware Of Falling Trees-- City Removing 26 Trees From Riverfront Park
  Source: KHQ; December 17, 2010
  Summary: After Expo ’74, Riverfront Park was deliberately overplanted. Now, nearly 4 decades later, they are in the middle of their lifespan. Some are diseased and many are crowded. Thinning them will give the remaining trees the chance to reach their full potential. The trees will be used for mulch or given to SNAP or other charities to help low-income families heat their homes.
  Opinion: It’s important to maintain a mix of trees, both in species and age, so they don’t all die at the same time. Maintaining the mix sometimes means direct action. There are over 1000 trees in the park, so this is less than 3% of the trees. I wonder if anyone would notice if it weren’t mentioned.
  
• Commission: YMCA ineligible for historic listing
  Source: Spokesman-Review; December 16, 2010
  Summary: The Spokane City-County Historic Landmarks Commission voted unanimously to find the YMCA lacking in historic value. The YMCA is expected to be demolished in February.
  Opinion: My recent experience has taught me that this is the correct ruling. The Avista building on Mission has a similar architectural style, and the testimony tended to indicate that the YMCA building didn't have a significant role in Expo '74. Preserving this building for historic reasons isn’t the right path. Preserving it, or replacing it with another structure, for its usefulness in providing functionality to the park would be the right decision.
  
• Editorial: Natural area acquisitions suffer from YMCA deal
  Source: Spokesman-Review; December 12, 2010
  Summary: The hasty purchase of the YMCA building by the Park Board, followed by Spokane City Council's acceptance of Spokane County's offer to bailout the board, has placed a huge burden on the otherwise popular Conservations Futures program. Worthy lands are being offered to the public in lieu of inappropriate development, but they will not be protected because of the purchase of the YMCA, which has taken up approximately one third of all the costs of the program.
  Opinion: Not to mention the failure to keep the property as a useful contributor to the tax rolls. The sale of the YWCA land across the river shows that there is interest in making the property work, and Mark Pinch's offer to keep the land along the river open to the public shows he understood this property's correct role. In the end, this property has been wasted, and the result will be additional sprawl on the lands not preserved by the program.