Friends of the Falls have been thrilled to work with Spokane’s new Mayor, Mary Verner on moving the Gorge Plan and its agenda items forward.

Most recently, we were honored to learn that Interim Parks Director Roger Crum will begin attending FOF monthly Board meetings on behalf of the Mayor and the department.

Mr. Crum is expected to continue his position through the selection process of the City’s new Parks & Recreation Director. The applications deadline for the position closed on Friday, January 18, and a selection committee is now being formed to interview the candidates. Mr. Crum has not applied for the position.

Friends of the Falls has maintained a good working relationship with the Parks Department and the Parks Board over the years. Thanks to the Mayor and Mr. Crum for helping set the stage for even more effective collaboration in the future.

For more on Mr. Crum’s appointment, see the links below including a release issued by the City of Spokane, and an article appearing in the Spokesman-Review on December 20, 2007.

“Crum named Interim Parks Director” (Weblink, City News article)
Spokesman-Review article (56 Kb, Acrobat® file)

It’s not often that the opening of a building sets an important tone for the river, but a new building on the Spokane Falls Community College campus might do just that - at least judging by what SFCC chancellor Gary Livingston had to say in a recent Spokesman-Review article.

In “New building begins new look,” published on December 27, 2007, Livingston noted that the new SFCC business and social science building is intended to begin a campus-wide planning shift towards the nearby Spokane River Gorge, something initial campus plans ignored. “We’re turning all of the campus back toward the river more,” Livingston said. “We really want to accentuate the location, which wasn’t done when the campus was built.”

Even though the building has no direct view of the river, the idea that SFCC will begin to embrace its prime location is exciting. With acres of undeveloped, forested shoreline area just a stone’s throw from campus, highlighting the river makes great sense - especially since it helps position SFCC with youth activities and curricula that could capitalize on the river’s proximity. Long-term, housing could begin to replace the acres of asphalt that currently dominate the area, and help draw more full-time students. More two and three-story buildings like this one could help the school grow in size without increasing the overall footprint of the campus.

Though SFCC lies outside of the River Gorge Master Plan, the overall scope envisions linking Riverfront Park with Riverside State Park. Such future planning work would almost certainly include SFCC as an important partner.

Kudos to Mr. Livingston, and to SFCC for recognizing the opportunity, and for beginning an important transition!

Spokesman-Review article

It feels like Spokane’s in the groove these days - and working on staying there, with new downtown businesses, residential development, fresh energies at City Hall, and a lot more. The downtown plan update has folks thinking about the future too, and a recent Pacific Northwest Inlander included a great editorial by Publisher Ted McGregor.

Ted’s editorials are almost always worth reading, but this one was all about “what ought to be next” in Spokane.

Including this line: “Finally, and most obviously, there’s the Spokane River, and the Gorge Park is a great idea we should all get behind.”

Darn right, Ted!

Inlander editorial (320 Kb, Acrobat® file)

(Editor’s note: as promised earlier this month, the following is a summary of Friends of the Falls’ efforts this past year. As you’ll see, it’s been a busy year, and one we’re proud to recount here for members and potential members alike. Thanks to our Chair, Barb Chamberlain, and to Executive Director Steve Faust for putting it together. A downloadable file of this year-end review is available as a link at the bottom of the article.)

In 2007, Friends of the Falls continued our work to transform the River Gorge into a vital, dynamic 400-acre public playground where all citizens of Spokane can enjoy a meaningful connection with this natural, free-flowing stretch of the Spokane River. To recap recent accomplishments:

• In 2007 the Great Spokane River Gorge Strategic Master Plan won the “Mayor’s Choice” award for excellence in urban design. The result of five years of work by the community, the plan identifies 15 key projects to further the restoration and enhancement of the river gorge, and establishes a clear strategy to implement these projects. Published in May 2005, after a year of public planning work, the Gorge plan has been endorsed by the City of Spokane, its Parks Department, the Spokane Tribe, and many other organizations, as well as over 1,500 of our citizens.

• This year, we began a process of formal engagement with the City of Spokane with the goal of fully integrating the Gorge plan into the City’s Comprehensive Plan. As part of that effort, we established a planning committee led by board member Travis Nichols to review the comp plan and see where gaps need to be filled. Adoption of the Gorge plan as part of the City’s comp plan is also a goal of our newly elected Mayor, Mary Verner, and the time seems right to move this effort forward in 2008.

• In 2007, we also actively engaged in the process to update the City’s Shoreline Master Plan. We took part in meetings of the Shorelines Policy Committee and submitted written comments on key planning issues.

• We are playing an active role in the update of the Downtown Plan through our executive director’s participation on the Downtown Plan Update Task Force.

• Since release of the Gorge plan, FOF has worked to implement a whitewater park as the first of its 15 priority projects, securing over $650,000 in grants and private contributions to construct the facility. The park will enhance recreational quality and water safety, and will be constructed with careful attention to the needs of fish and wildlife. In 2007 we completed fundraising for project design, permitting and construction.

• In 2006, we identified the opportunity and wrote a grant that awarded the City of Spokane $530,000 to construct another priority project from the plan – a visitor center at the entry to People’s Park that will provide amenities such as restrooms to reduce negative impacts to the environment. Over this past year, we worked closely with the Spokane Parks Department to shepherd this grant through a competitive evaluation process and get it funded. Best of all, the money we raised for the whitewater park provided the required 50% match for this grant to the City, bringing a total of over $1 million in state funding and private contributions to the river in 2006-2007.

• This summer we formed a partnership with the City to move the whitewater park and the visitor center forward. We are now engaged in design and permitting. Construction should begin next summer, but there is much left to do before this project becomes a reality, and Friends of the Falls must continue our efforts to keep it moving.

• In 2007, we formed a partnership with the Peaceful Valley Neighborhood to restore riparian habitat and build a walking trail along the south bank of the river – another priority project of the Gorge plan. Led by Matt Phillipi and his neighbors in Peaceful Valley, this project is in the early planning stage. Look for a design workshop in early 2008.

• We are supporting efforts in partnership with other groups to implement several other priority projects from the Gorge plan, including a tribal cultural center, a “Southern Gateway” business district along the Sunset Highway, and completion of the Fish Lake Trail.

• At this year’s Spokane River Clean-Up, 750 volunteers assembled in High Bridge Park and recovered six tons of trash along the banks of the river. This is our fifth year organizing the clean-up event, which invites citizens to connect with the river and gorge on a personal level and promotes a community ethic of stewardship for this resource.

• As we advocate for the Great Spokane River Gorge Master Plan, we also work with other community leaders to find a sustainable solution to fund operations and maintenance of the growing network of trails, green spaces, access points, and other amenities along the Spokane River.

Through these many efforts, we seek to fulfill a vision first articulated for Spokane by the Olmsted Brothers in 1908: a 400-acre “Gorge Park” framing one of the most unique and impressive landscapes found anywhere in the United States. Such a park would connect downtown’s Riverfront Park to scenic greenbelt areas downstream and ultimately to the 10,000 acre Riverside State Park, creating an 11-mile river corridor rich with opportunities to recreate and enjoy a natural amenity that is uniquely Spokane.

Imagine an 11-mile river corridor accessible to all people - in kayaks, canoes, rafts and inner-tubes; birdwatchers and disc golf enthusiasts; cyclists, mountain bikers, hikers, trail runners and walkers. Imagine the opportunities for school field trips where children learn about their local environment, history and culture; where unique natural amenities attract university students, knowledge workers and entrepreneurs, and where adjacent neighborhoods enjoy multiple connections to open spaces and fantastic views within a natural, protected, accessible and distinctive urban river corridor.

We believe the Gorge plan will change the self-image of the Spokane region. An active, stunning and accessible river corridor will fill people in Spokane with pride and will reinforce a sense of place, while increasing the health and enjoyment of future generations.

Our advocacy will continue in 2008. Check back for updates, and consider joining Friends of the Falls today to help us continue our efforts on behalf of the river.

Year in Review 2007 (285 Kb, Acrobat® file)