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Spokane Unveils New North Bank Playground

Rebecca White/SPR

Spokane City leaders cut the ribbon on one of the final Riverfront Park redevelopment projects Friday, the Ice Age Floods Playground.

Jennifer Ogden, the Spokane Park Board chair said the park was designed with the entire family in mind.

“We have little kids activities here, we have the kids, of the age where their knees work better than mine, we’ve got something for every age group.”

The new park has a sandbox, a musical instrument installation, a large climbing wall, a skate park, basketball courts, a splash pad and a large play structure. There are also educational displays about the ice age interspersed throughout the park.

Melanie Bell, a representative from the ice age flood institute, said she hopes it will help children understand the region’s history and geology. Most of Spokane’s waterways, and its aquifer are all a result of the Missoula floods.

“Spokane is unlike any city in the world. Our aquifer was scoured out by the floods, and that aquifer supplies the drinking water, the water you brushed your teeth with this morning.”

The revitalization of the Northbank is a $12.2 million remodel, and there are still four projects remaining: two art projects, the re-installation of the Expo butterfly that came down in a windstorm in January, and the renovation of the North suspension bridge.