The Spokane school board last night [Wednesday] approved its part of a land exchange that involves the schools, the city and its parks and libraries.
The city will deed land it owns to the school district for middle schools in the Mullan Road neighborhood on the South Hill and the Foothills area in the northeast.
The school district will provide land near its Libby Center in east Spokane for a new public library. It will also provide an option to the city to buy a strip of land the district owns near Albi Stadium. The district also exercised an option to acquire city land near Albi for a new middle school.
The city parks department will provide land near Liberty Park for a new library.
Before the vote, Rick Romero, who negotiated for the city, told the school board the exchange represents the power of local government at its best.
“This is four separate boards, four separate legal entities, with the libraries, parks, the city and SPS, really coming together and figuring out how we can share our land, our facilities, even our programs in a smarter way for our citizens," Romero said. "I would say the result of that, in terms of what our citizens see, is greater value, greater efficiency, greater quality of life and improved neighborhoods.”
City council members Breean Beggs and Mike Fagan said they would encourage their colleagues to support the land exchange when they vote on Monday.