Avista Corporation is proposing a half mile long park to be built along a section of Upriver Drive near their corporate headquarters.
The idea is partly as a mitigation procedure required by the Federal government under the dam relicensing procedure, which Avista most recently did for its Upper Falls Dam in 2009.
Avista’s Director for Environmental Affairs, Bruce Howard says the increased number of people recreating on the river, as well as a desire to keep Centennial trail users safely away from traffic helped prompt the idea.
“And we would put in a dock, and a number of viewpoints where people can come, and informal trails along the water, also restore the non native trees with native trees to improve the quality of the shoreline,” Howard said.
Upriver-bound traffic from Mission would be re-routed around Avista’s main campus, on Perry Street, Indiana Avenue, North Crescent Avenue and North Center Street, which meets Upriver a half-mile north of Mission.
The proposal would need approval from the city on a couple different fronts, including re-routing traffic.