Saturday, November 21, 2009

ONGOING COVERAGE: KENDALL YARDS

Our view: Nearer nature

Even for non-kayakers, whitewater park a cool idea

June 24, 2007

When you saw the news that a Spokane River whitewater park will become a reality for kayakers and thought – big deal, I don't kayak – consider this quote from Rick Hastings, one of the prime movers behind the park: "Most folks who enjoy whitewater kayak parks don't kayak; they watch. And they like to live in a town that's got something this cool going on. They bring their out-of-town relatives and say, 'You've got to go and see these kayakers.' "

Last Tuesday, Friends of the Falls announced it had secured the $1.1 million needed to design and build the whitewater park. Some people couldn't believe it. Little more than a year ago, Hastings and Steve Faust, the group's executive director, were hopeful, but in no way certain, that the seven-year dream for a whitewater park would really happen.

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The park will be built beneath the Sandifur Memorial Bridge, a mile west of downtown Spokane. According to the Friends of the Falls Web site, the park will include "two U-shaped arrangements of native boulders, intended to create drops, waves and pools in the river for kayakers and other users. The project also includes the addition of parking, restorative landscaping, and a small visitor center. The project is expected to benefit all users of the area – including anglers, hikers, mountain bikers, residents of adjacent neighborhoods, and anyone using the Centennial Trail."

The whitewater park is the latest buzz in a Spokane filled with the sound. In the past year, the convention center expansion opened, the downtown condo craze grew even crazier, and the Kendall Yards project – across the river from the proposed park – got the green light. Downtown hotels will soon be able to include this pitch: "Bring your kayak, because you're just five minutes away from whitewater."

Friends of the Falls members worked hard selling the dream. Faust invited business people, political leaders and potential donors on river floats and explained how the whitewater park fits into the "great river" gorge park plan envisioned a century ago by the Olmsted Brothers, legendary landscape architects.

Friends of the Falls collected hefty donations from companies, plus substantial state grant money. But smaller donations also trickled in from men and women who understand how a whitewater park will increase visitors to the river, thereby increasing the desire to care for the community's irreplaceable resource.

The hard work is not over. The permitting process involves a shoreline, and that's always delicate. But if all goes as planned, the park will be ready for kayakers and spectators in October 2008.

Something this cool is going on in