Downriver Park river access area reopens

SPOKANE, Wash. — After two years, the City of Spokane has reopened Downriver Park near TJ Meenach Drive.

The park was closed in 2022 for an over $3 million construction project facilitated by the Cochran Downriver Stormwater Management Facilities.

The renovations include a new and improved river access point and is part of the Cochran Basin. The project aims to improve the health of the Spokane River.

"Our access points are about letting people interact with our truly best natural asset as a community and have them become stewards of it for the kids and grandkids and all those people that come after us," said Public Works Director Marlene Feist.

The Cochran Basin, located in northwest Spokane, comprises around 60% of the City's separate stormwater system and is the largest in the City at around 5,160 acres.

The basin was built in the eighties to separate sewer waste from storm water. Now, new infrastructure is in place to prevent contaminants in the drainage from washing into the river.

"We are mimicking what nature does to clean water, which is run it through these bio retention areas and infiltration ponds so that those soils, engineered soils and things, can gather up the contaminants and clean the water so that what actually does reach the river is clean and healthy," said Feist.

Downriver Park is one of six construction projects planned for the Cochran Basin, all of which will total $24 million once completed.

“In addition to a much-improved river access point, the collaboration with Public Works also brought support for our irrigation upgrades completed at Downriver Golf Course and a renovated disc golf course, opening early summer once the grass grows in a bit,” Garrett Jones, interim City Administrator, said. “Partnerships like this maximize community investment.”

The Downriver Park construction projects also provide the following:

• A renovated non-motorized watercraft access area
• A new paved lot for more parking, two 50-foot stalls, and space to accommodate trailers
• An information kiosk
• Natural habitat area
• Improved trail access

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