Grant Park

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Grant Park sits in the newly revitalized Perry Street District on the lower South Hill. This park is unique in that it was originally designed to be a playfield, originally called the U. S. Grant Playground. It was 2.97 acres and like many of the other playgrounds in Spokane was built next to a school, Grant Elementary. The Olmsted Brothers, a landscape architecture firm from Brookline, MA, recommended that playfields be incorporated in the city planning for Spokane. They also recommended the size, features, and gave it appeal to families moving to the area.

When I-90 was built in 1965-1971, Grant park was increased to 12.62 acres with money from the state and federal government, Stadacona Park was added to its park space, and Liberty Park was moved. Home owners who rented property slated for sale to make way for the new park space wrote to the city in 1969 demanding to know if and when their property would be purchased as they were losing money on the rental properties.

Not long after the new park land was acquired, complaints began to pour in about the state of the park, nicknamed "Grant Park Swamp." In the summer of 1974, Washington State University, the 4-H Foundation, Standard Oil, and many neighborhood residents came together and created a space for new playground equipment.

The newest addition to Grant Park is a city garden.