Ahh, working on Spokane’s Downtown plan. Seems like yesterday.
Except that it was 1999 - nearly a decade ago!
Since then, Spokane (with the plan as a catalyst) has accomplished an amazing number of things, including:
• Restoration of the Davenport Hotel
• Completion of the new Convention Center
• Revival of Downtown as a mixed use center
• Post Street “Promenade” improvements
• Growth of the Davenport Arts District
• Restoration of the Fox Theatre
... and a number other projects, large and small. In all, over $3 billion in new investment and construction.
So for Friends of the Falls, it’s important to note that a major update to the plan is getting underway with a workshop scheduled for Thursday, November 29, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at 412 E. Spokane Falls Boulevard, next to the “Bookie.”
Of course, the previous plan missed on many counts - the giant “public square” called for in the 1999 plan never materialized (although Wendell Reugh’s new parking lot bears an ironic resemblance to the plan’s image and location of such a feature). But that’s why plans need updating, and we applaud the effort.
As we were then, Friends of the Falls will be there to encourage the community’s continued focus on the river, including developing a tighter integration of the downtown plan and the Gorge Master Plan.
If the Spokane River is important to you, too, please take part in this crucial effort. As the e-mail we received said, “Be a part of what comes next!”
