Parks board hears year-end recreation reports; senior centers report sharp growth

The Spokane Parks Board on a February afternoon received year-end reports from parks and recreation staff and a separate presentation from Southside Senior Center highlighting rising participation, extensive volunteer support and ongoing facility upgrades.

Steve Young, executive director of the Southside Senior Center, told the board the center’s membership has grown rapidly. “We’ve almost doubled our membership in the last 18 months,” he said, and added that volunteers contributed roughly 18,000 hours, which he described as equivalent to about $299,000 in value.

The presentations sketched the scale of the department’s work in 2025. Recreation Director Jennifer Papich reported therapeutic recreation ran 159 programs with nearly 2,500 participants, while wellness and enrichment ran about 508 programs with roughly 3,500 participants. Outdoor programs ran about 149 events with approximately 1,600 participants and 523 river shuttles. Papich said pools recorded about 108,000 open-swim visits and the department offered more than 3,000 aquatic programs that drew roughly 41,000 participants in coordinated classes.

The senior centers report cited recent capital and maintenance work: Corbin’s furnace replacement project — funded through grants and partnerships with Avista and Klein Air Conditioning — was highlighted as an example of centers securing outside support for costly repairs. Young cited Project Joy and other performance groups as part of an active events calendar and encouraged board members to visit the Southside Center at 27th and Ray.

During public comment, Derek Azaro urged the board to include Logan Peace Park in the city’s parks upgrade process, listing lighting as his top priority and raising the idea of a small water play feature on adjacent property if feasible. “So what I’m here for today is to basically ask you if we can, have Logan Peace Park be included in the process of upgrading all the parks,” he said, describing years of volunteer work to secure sidewalks and ADA ramps in the neighborhood.

Board members and staff framed the reports as context for levy-driven projects and upcoming bids. Recreation leaders said winter programming and spring registrations are already under way and that they are planning to encumber capital early in levy implementation to sustain projects scheduled through 2026 and beyond.

The board did not take formal action on the program reports. Staff and committee leads listed next steps, including outreach to potential funders, continuing partnerships for maintenance and a reminder of upcoming committee meetings where specific levy projects (including Meadow Glen Park and playground surface choices) will be discussed.