SPOKANE COUNTY, June 18, 2021– Spokane County Parks, Recreation, and Golf is prepared to unveil updated projects at Bidwell Park and Prairie View Community Park to County residents this summer.
An official ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at Bidwell Park on Friday, June 25th at 10 a.m.
The Bidwell Park project boasts two baseball/softball fields with room for soccer, 4 sand volleyball courts with lights, 2 pickleball courts, a full-size basketball court, two picnic shelters, traditional playground, nature playground, over a mile of paved walking trails, over one hundred and fifty new trees, two new park restroom buildings, and much more.
The project also included significant improvements to the adjacent Northside Family Aquatic Facility, including a heated splash pad, massively increased deck space, new shade umbrellas, and 2 towering waterslides.
Spokane County’s other aquatic site, The Southside Family Aquatic Facility, has also had a face lift since 2019 and now features two additional large water slides. Unlike the original and much-loved slide, these 2 new slides are open-flume and guarantee a fun and wet ride. Patrons only need to be 44” tall to enjoy these 2 new slides, but the original slide does require that riders reach 48” tall before jumping aboard.
While swim lessons began at both facilities on Monday, June 14th, all these newly added features at Northside and Southside can be enjoyed by the public for the first time on Monday, June 28th when the sites fully open for the first Open Swim since August of 2019.
All programming will follow local, state, and federal guidelines for Water Recreational Facilities; therefore, operational changes are possible throughout the season if/when guidance is updated. For details about all current COVID-19 Aquatics Adjustments, click here. https://www.spokanecounty.org/4581/COVID-19-Impacts.
In the first few days of public swim, from June 28 – July 1, admittance will be by reservation only and be capped at 150 guests per session at each facility. Public sessions will take place 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Starting Friday, July 2nd there will be a limited number of walk-up entries available, and capacity shall be increased to a maximum of 300 but reservations are still strongly encouraged, as facility capacity is expected to remain limited at 300 guests per session (ordinarily 500) to allow for reduced congestion throughout the entire season within the aquatic facilities in special recognition of our many clients under 12-years of age, not currently eligible for vaccination against COVID-19.
Reservations can be made up to 14 days in advance, and will be available on our website, https://www.spokanecounty.org/4938/Public-Swim starting Friday, June 18th for Southside and Wednesday, June 23rd for Northside.
Spokane County Parks, Recreation, and Golf is also proud to announce a new partnership with Spokane Indians Baseball. The Indians’ qualified and experienced food service team will be operating the concession stands at both facilities for summer 2021. So while guests enjoy the expanded deck space under the expansive shade umbrellas, visitors can now also enjoy an Indians Ballpark hotdog, treats, and more.
As Spokane County Parks, Recreation, and Golf continues to address various pandemic-related impacts such as staffing challenges and chemical shortages, daily operational models may continue to be adjusted throughout the summer and there may be occasional unexpected disruptions.
Spokane County Aquatics Director Sarah Fitzgerald stated, “We would like to thank the public in advance for your patience and understanding as we work hard to have these facilities open during this unprecedented time.”
As a reminder, Spokane County has a newly redesigned mobile app, “Spokane County on the go.” The app can be downloaded for all apple or android devices. To download the app on either Apple or Android, visit the app store and simply search Spokane County, no other registration or login required.