SLBC since 1913
1913: Upper Manito Park: All men and one baby? Where's the women?
Here they are, in their Sunday best.
We are now more casual: shorts or pants: weather dependent. And we play mixed genders.
Where Have We Been?
Spokane's original lawn bowling club was established in 1913, in Manito Park, on Spokane's south hill. But each spring one of the park's natural springs flooded the green. The carved-out square is still evident on the northwest corner of Manito (along 25th Avenue), and it still floods each early summer, creating a super thick turf.
Spokane Lawn Bowling Club was later reestablished at Albi Stadium in the spring of 1978 and stayed there for just three years. The current green, on East Mission Triangle, opened in 1981 behind Witter Aquatic Center (1300 E Mission Avenue), across from Avista's headquarters.
The following are notes from the 1980 building of the green, located within the boundaries of the former Women's bathing pool located south of the Public Bath House (our current club house).
"The Spokane Lawn Bowling Club completed its natural grass green in September 1980. It is 75 ft. by 120 ft., or five rinks one way and eight shorter rinks the other. The cost was about $9,000. Donations from local contractors, help from Spokane Parks Department, and volunteer help from club members cut expenses to a minimum. The club's membership doubled that year to 30."
2024 Rebuilding
SLBC received a generous grant from Spokane Parks Foundation to help rebuild our decaying backboards and ditches. Club members searched widely, chose Alaskan Yellow Cedar, and drove to Tacoma to procure a huge truckload of 10-foot-long boards. In May 2024, Spokane Parks and Recreation Department generously provided support and further finance for the rebuilding project, and their parks maintenance crew completed the installation. Club members held three work sessions to pack soil around the new ditches and backboards, and to cut and install artificial turf in the ditches. We will be aerating and planting new turf and redoing the whole green starting in September 2024.
With deep thanks to each of the following:
