I-90 Took One of Spokane's Early Parks

                                                                                      

SPOTLIGHT ON THE SPOKANE REGION

Hi Everybody!  I am Kris Krell, and I am preparing to entertain you with interesting stories about  the Spokane Region through the EWGS Blog. 

So stay tuned, and send your comments, kudos, or suggestions to me at krellkb1@gmail.com.

I am excited about this new Blogging opportunity, and I look forward to getting to know and work with all of my fellow EWGS members!

Kris

I-90 Took One of Spokane's Early Parks

Every so often, when I’m driving westbound on the freeway, a bit before the Division exit, I glance upwards and notice a few old stone stairsteps.  I wonder about them for just a few seconds as I continue driving, and then don’t think about them until sometime in the future when I’m driving by again and look up.

Last month was just such a time.  I was heading downtown to have dinner with a friend and former coworker.  I glanced up, saw the steps, kept on driving and didn’t give them another thought--until I was thinking today about what to write about for tomorrow’s Blog post.  Tomorrow night, I am again heading downtown for dinner with the same friend as last month—that’s what prompted this post!

I’ve seen those stairsteps for many years, so decided it was time for me to do some research and find out what those steps are.  I went to Google and started searching.  It took about three Google tries before I found what I was looking for!

In 1897, the land that Liberty Park was on was deeded to Spokane by F. Lewis Clark, a wealthy mining businessman.  The stairsteps that I see from the freeway are the some of the remains of Liberty Park.

Liberty Park, redesigned in 1907, by the famed Olmsted brothers, was known for its natural beauty, and the view from the terraced eastern bluff.  A promenade with mortar-built basalt walls and pillars, pathways and a small summer wading pond were some of the special features of the park and are now some of the ruins that are still standing at the park today.   

When the freeway came to Spokane in the 1960’s, I-90 cut a swath through the middle of the park.  Nineteen of the 21 acres of the park we needed for the freeway construction.  Only 2 of the original 21 acres were left, and so the park was abandoned.

I found in my research, that the ruins are easily seen from the eastbound lanes of the freeway just west of the Hamilton Street exit.  I’ll look tomorrow night on my way home from dinner, because I have never noticed the remains from the east bound side of the freeway. 

The remains of old Liberty Park can be found at the Third and Arthur area.  Over the years, some cleanup efforts have been made, but I don’t know how cleaned up it is now.

Sources:  spokesman.com, historicspokane.org