Rapid growth in Spokane's North Indian Trail neighborhood has prompted the city's Parks & Recreation department to move forward with a priority development project that will improve the southern half of Meadowglen Park.

Meadowglen Park, currently a 30-acre undeveloped city-owned property, is located at 10890 N. Indian Trail Road, on a northernmost edge of the city limits.

The project design is about 60% complete, and public outreach is ongoing, says Nick Hamad, park planning manager for the city of Spokane's Parks & Recreation department. 

As planned, Meadowglen Park will be updated from vacant land to a park featuring "universal access" to visitors, he says.

Preliminary designs include a large playground and 4,000 to 5,000 linear feet of walking and bicycling paths that will loop throughout the property, with a covered picnic area and bathroom facilities..

Community feedback also has identified a strong demand for sports courts, Hamad says. Planners expect to accommodate that demand with four pickleball courts, two sand volleyball courts, and bocce ball courts at the site.

Some of the activities, such as bocce ball, are being included to cater to older park visitors who are less interested in strenuous activities but also want more to do than people watch on a bench, explains Hamad.

Along with the proposed sports and playground equipment, the property will feature elements of the current natural landscape with a mix of irrigated lawns and meadows featuring lower water needs. Greenspace at the property also will incorporate an existing ponderosa pine forest to provide shade and act as a buffer from traffic on Indian Trail Road. A dry stream bed will channel stormwater and serve as a temporary water feature when it rains.

A 64-stall parking lot planned at the northwestern corner of the park is proposed to provide vehicle access to the park and serve as a trailhead to nearby natural areas. A Spokane Transit Authority bus stop will be placed near the parking lot as well.

"We certainly are making every effort to reduce or eliminate as many barriers as possible and provide much more than just your typical basic ADA access. We're aiming for universal access to this location," he says.

The estimated cost of improvements is between $7.5 million and $8 million. About 50% of the funding has been secured through a mix of federal and state grants from the Washington state Recreation and Conservation Office and the National Park Service's Land and Water Conservation Fund. Additional funding for the remainder of the budget is contingent on a proposed park levy that is headed to the ballot in November.

If the levy doesn't pass in the fall, a "slightly downsized version" of the project, valued at about $5 million, would still proceed with fewer amenities and likely a longer construction timeline, Hamad explains. If the levy passes, the level of amenities and the pace of development would be unchanged from current plans.

"We'd like to set the benchmark for new park development within our community with this project," says Hamad.  

The design phase is expected to be complete by November to coincide with the levy vote. Bidding to select a contractor is expected following completion of the design. Construction is anticipated to begin next year. 

Place Landscape Architecture LLC, of Spokane, is designing the park improvements. Parks & Recreation officials also are collaborating with the Washington state Recreation and Conservation Office, the National Park Service, and other city departments on the development.

Development of Meadowglen Park has always been the planned use for that land, but it wasn't until a Spokane Parks and Natural Lands Master Plan in June 2022 that identified a significant geographic gap to park access in the neighborhood that set in motion plans for upgrades there.

"Through that process we identified ... the North Indian Trail neighborhood has some of the worst access to parks citywide," says Hamad.

A major goal for the Parks and Recreation Department is to have all households in the city of Spokane within a 10-minute walk to a public park, however 72%, or about 2,800 homes, in the North Indian Trail neighborhood currently aren't within that range, he says. 

"That's more than any other neighborhood in the city," Hamad asserts, adding that the upgrades will bring about 800 homes within walking distance to an improved park.

Meadowglen Park is one of three proposed neighborhood park projects. The two other parks proposed for upgrades are Shiloh Hills Park, in northeast Spokane, and Qualchan Hills Park, in the Latah Valley.