Valley Mission ParkVALLEY MISSION PARK
VALLEY MISSION SOUTH PARK
Site Information
Location: E. 11407 Mission Acquisition Date: 1958, 2000
Study Area: West Valley Urban Parking: 117 Spaces
Size: 27.2 Acres
Improved Area: 20.0 Acres
Facilities
Swimming Pool Resooms Tennis Courts
Shelter Sports Fields Horse Arena
Basketball Court Playground Picnic Area
Senior Citizen Center Irrigated Lawn Drinking Fountains
Water Slide (privately owned) Horse Stables /Corral
History
Valley Mission Park is located in the Spokane Valley, south of Interstate -90 and north of Mission Ave. at
Bowdish Road This is an older established residential area.
The original three acres of Valley Mission Park were owned by the Opportunity Township and served as the
Opportunity Landfill. The Valley Park Association, organized in 1957, encouraged conversion of the land to a
park and in 1958 it was purchased by Spokane County. The site was bulldozed and filled with dirt, and lawn
installation/landscaping took place. In 1969, restrooms and a drinking fountain were added. Donors included the
Mirabeau Garden Club and the Athena Junior Women's Club.
The park underwent a major expansion in 1969 when the County Road Department vacated a former gravel pit to
the east of the original park site. A swimming pool was added in 1971 with federal grant dollars ($254,000 in
Federal Gravel Pit Reclamation monies) secured to develop this Park. The gravel pit was the first surface mined
area in the country to be successfully reclaimed. In 1973, a tennis court, basketball court, new restrooms,
irrigation, shelter, play equipment, and horse corral stables were added. The Valley Senior Center was added in
1975. Three and one -half acres on the northwest comer of the park are leased to a private concessionaire,
Splashdown, Incorporated who constructed a giant water slide that opened in 1983.
Spokane County added 7.2 acres of land across Mission Ave. and south of the park in two separate purchases
completed in 2000, for the purpose of replacing the old swimming pool. This property is currently undeveloped,
however, the pool is expected to open in 2003.
Spokane County Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan - 2002 76
06/13/02