Balfour's sand court will stay, park will get splash pad, water toys

Balfour Park has a bright future, one that includes both basketball and volleyball courts.

Park officials presented a master plan for the park to county commissioners on Tuesday.

The plan, developed with community input, calls for a full-size basketball court, a walking path around the park's perimeter and a small splash pad with a couple of water toys.

Initially, the master plan did not include the existing sand volleyball court.

Park director Doug Chase recommended the county replace it with the basketball court, instead.

Neighbors lobbied for basketball, he said, because they think it will get more use by the many children living in apartment buildings near the park.

They expressed concern that the volleyball court attracts outsiders who play at all hours, sometimes blasting their car stereo systems, he added.

Commissioner Kate McCaslin said she didn't like the idea of removing the volleyball court.

"If we get rid of it, there's going to be a lot of yelling, and rightfully so," she said. "I object to this being an either-or proposition. Besides, a lot of 18- to 25-year-olds live in apartments."

Commissioners urged Chase to consider reinstating the volleyball court in the master plan. Chase agreed to do so.

"We are very excited to move forward with implementing the master plan," he said later. "We feel it will be very well received by the community."

All future improvements to the park will require additional funds from the commissioners.

Commissioners allocated just over $100,000 for Balfour Park earlier this year. The majority of the money will be spent to irrigate, seed and fence a 1.6-acre addition to the park. The remainder will be spent on new play equipment.

Parks officials are currently reviewing bids for the equipment, which they hope to install by the end of the year. The package will include crawl tubes, numerous slides and a climbing wall made of a material molded to resemble boulders.

"Gosh, it will just be cool," Chase said. "The kids are going to love it."

The park has been without playground equipment for more than a year.

Balfour Park, located just behind Spokane Valley Fire District's Station No. 1 on East Sprague Avenue, is one of the county's smallest urban parks.

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