Friends of the Falls’ President Barb Chamberlain recently forwarded staff and board members an e-mail from the Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, relating another of many positive steps we’re seeing in terms of the river’s growing prominence in Spokane’s civic identity.

Even though the message we received was missing the specific image she noted - security filters being what they are - her note including the statement “Look at the use of the river in marketing destination tourism!” made us think the image was something like the one gathered from the CVB site posted to the left, one of many the agency is using these days to promote Spokane.

We’re excited about harbingers like this and the many, many others that we’ve noticed in the past few years, indicating a community that’s growing to appreciate and value the river as it’s centerpiece. Business-boosters, community activists, neighborhood volunteers, cultural advocates and river organizations like ours all have important perspectives to share, and it’s great to have so many focused on the Spokane River these days.

Prompted by the e-mail image, we’re pretty sure that’s what Barb saw, too.

The link below downloads a copy of a Spokesman-Review article entitled “Olmsteds’ legacy as close as nearest city park,” covering the legacy of the Olmsted brothers’ parks plan delivered in 1908, as well as plans being made to commemorate the centennial. Published May 27, 2007, Jim Kershner, Staff Writer. A map showing boundaries of the Olmsteds’ proposal versus those of today’s parks system, which ran with the article, is also linked below.

SR Kershner article (152 Kb, Acrobat® file)
Olmsteds’ parks map (168 Kb, Acrobat® file)

On a sunny Saturday in February, FOF’s Exective Director Steve Faust visited the Peaceful Valley Community Center and gave a presentation on the overall vision and projects of the Gorge Strategic Master Plan (SMP). The presentation seems to have sparked interest in implementing one of the projects from the SMP: the restoration of riparian habitat - in this case along the edge of the Peaceful Valley Neighborhood from Glover Field downstream along Water Street.

Matt Phillipy, a West Valley City School teacher who moved to the Peaceful Valley neighborhood in 2006, has volunteered to help move the project forward. Including a light duty walking trail along the south bank of river, the SMP estimates the project cost at about $500,000. Neighborhood residents have begun discussions with Spokane Parks & Recreation and the Lands Council about the project, and are considering devoting some neighborhood Community Development money as seed funding. Once the necessary planning and permitting is in place, volunteer labor could be coordinated as part of the annual Spokane River Clean Up.

There’s much more in the SMP document, but here’s some of the descriptive text from Chapter 4:

“The riverfront along the edge of the Peaceful Valley Neighborhood should be restored to native riparian habitat and even some riparian wetlands...public and private lands could be improved by removing non-native species over time and establishing more native species such as Black Cottonwood, River Birch, Scouler Willow, Pacific Willow, Swamp Gooseberry, Red Osier Dogwood, and Elderberry. These species would provide cover for wildlife as well as shade and nutrients for the river ecosystem. Bank retention should favor living, flexible materials rather than riprap or concrete.”

The plan identifies six general areas within the Gorge in particular need of non-native plant species removal, including the area of interest to the neighborhood.

We’ll keep posting updates as things develop!

SMP Map, Figure 4.7 (520 Kb Acrobat® file)

Spokane loves its spring and summer community events, and none are more memorable than the Bloomsday run. This year’s 31st annual event was one of the best, in part because this year’s finisher’s t-shirt was so much about the Falls. 

We could go on about how Bloomsday - reportedly the nation’s largest timed road race, attracting between 40-50 thousand participants each year - builds our town’s civic identity and community like no other event, how it’s come to mark the beginning of the outdoor season for Spokane, or how cool it is to watch some of those world-class atheletes blaze past, seemingly without effort.

But as Friends of the Falls, we’re particularly keen on the course itself, laid out to circumnavigate the Spokane River Gorge, with much of the 7.46-mile course offering views of the river - and with its finish line crossing the Monroe Street Bridge, just downstream of the Falls. (We even felt a little mist from the Falls at the finish line!)

Then there’s this year’s t-shirt. Here’s a design that renders the Falls and the people of Spokane as one and the same. There have been a few shirts or official event posters featuring the Falls over the years, but none come close to this shirt in capturing the essense of what our organization hopes for our town - a community that truly identifies itself with its river.

Enough. Time to rest up, look for race results in tomorrow’s Spokesman-Review, and bask in the glory of having finished another Bloomsday run in beautiful Spokane, Washington!

Course Map (3.3 Mb, Acrobat® file)
About Bloomsday (Wikipedia link)