Spokane County weighs park and fairground repairs

Spokane County commissioners are reviewing capital work while departments cut costs for a 2027 budget that is over budget. Park proposals include an estimated $350,000 resurfacing job for 20-year-old water slides. The slides have needed temporary patches and short closures after their coating began coming loose and injured visitors.

The Parks Department also wants $175,000 to remove the long-closed pool and building at Holmberg Community Park, where repeated break-ins have occurred. At Camelot Community Park, $170,000 would replace unsafe stairs and a retaining wall with a grassy slope, while removing a deteriorated soccer goal. Together, the park requests total $907,000. County finance officials said $23 million is available for community infrastructure and that funding these projects would leave $17.6 million for other spending and debt payments.

Other requests include a $175,000 replacement crematorium and a $410,000 livestock barn for SCRAPS, plus transport vehicles, courthouse elevator reconstruction and repairs to the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center’s Havana Street entrance road. The crematorium is 30 years old and was unavailable for six weeks in 2025; the barn could reduce boarding costs for animals held during investigations and court cases. Commissioners will decide on the projects with the final 2027 budget.