Cheney Historical Commission receives federal grant to assist with parks historical report

By AMY MEYER

Staff Intern

The Historic Preservation Commission met on July 7 in the Cheney City Council Chambers.

The commission was informed it was awarded a federal grant marked for Certified Local Governments to use to hire a consultant to create detailed reports of eight parks within Cheney and their historical aspects. Those parks have an age of 50 years or more and include Sutton, Pugh and Webb parks.

The grant will “really nail down the research and help tell the stories,” commission secretary Susan Beeman said.

The money, which will be passed through the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, will come available Oct. 1. The commission will research and photograph work toward the project, and then their work will be assigned a monetary value and matched by the grant in dollars toward the consultant. Members of the commission hope to publish short articles as a venue to communicate the information to the public in a meaningful way.

The Sterling-Moorman House Committee is forming a mission and vision and is looking for a volunteer, citizen secretary. They will apply for nonprofit status after the group structure and mission are solidified.

Bricks to memorialize individuals and family are on sale to raise money for the historic home. Two lines of text on a brick can be purchased for $50 and additional lines cost $5 each for a total of four lines per brick.

Spokane Preservation Advocates has approved the Heritage Fund Grant “in recognition of the of the historic and architectural significance of the Sterling Moorman House and its importance to the history of Cheney.”

The matching grant will be up to $2,500. The group describes itself as “a local nonprofit organization with a membership of 800 citizens that is dedicated to advocating for historic preservation throughout Spokane County.”

Crunk's Hill interpretive signage is one of the conditions for a use permit on the playfields that will go in on North Sixth Street between Golden Hills and the Church of Jeus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

According to commissioner Ann Heehn, the Cheney School District plans to put up a six-by-eight-foot sign engraved in wood by a building near the parking lot. The lot will be located along the extension of the Simpson Parkway across Sixth Street.

Heehn added the school district asked that the wording memorializing the hill come from the commission. The commission has formed a subcommittee to clarify the details of the sign with the district.

The fields are anticipated to be ready for play by spring 2012.