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and say, ‘This represents Spokane,’” Landers says. “We have the Spokane River, which is pretty iconic, and has been around a long time, and will hopefully outlast these other things that may come and go as a trend or landmark.”

Landers says that while some have already criticized his design for not including something like the Pavilion or the Clock Tower or Spokane Falls, his 24 years of design experience have taught him that simplicity is key.

“This symbolizes the whole Spokane region rather than needing the Clock Tower or the garbage goat,” Landers says. “It needs to be clean and simple and easily identifiable.”

The public was allowed to vote on the design if they were a Spokane Public Library cardholder or a Spokane Tribe member. Ranked choice voting allowed the idea supported by the most voters to ultimately win. No one was paid for the designs.

“This was a contest; there was no compensation,” Landers says. “I did it because 1) I was proud of my design, and 2) I love this city.”

A dedication of the new flag is planned for sometime in June. (SAMANTHA WOHLFEIL)

DOWNTOWN STADIUM A GO

More than three years since the idea was born, the Spokane Public Schools Board of Directors last week agreed in a 4-1 vote to move ahead with building the district’s new HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS STADIUM downtown.

“I genuinely believe that when all is said and done, that this decision is a step in the right direction to bring Spokane to a better place,” says Jerral Haynes, school board president.

Construction on the stadium, to be located near the Spokane Arena, is expected to begin next spring with a completion date possible by fall 2022, according to information presented by the school district staff last week.

For Spokane Public Schools, the downtown stadium will replace soon-to-be-demolished Joe Albi Stadium in northwest Spokane. Voters approved $31 LETTERS million to build a new 5,000Send comments to editor@inlander.com. seat stadium for high school sports in 2018 to replace Albi, but in a nonbinding advisory vote, voters overwhelmingly said at the time that they preferred the smaller stadium to be built at the Albi site instead of downtown. Many voters at the time were concerned about parking and traffic.

But the proposal for a downtown stadium was brought back earlier this year by the Downtown Spokane Partnership, which said the parking concerns had been addressed. Additionally, the United Soccer League has promised to bring a professional soccer team to Spokane if the stadium is built downtown. The USL said it would pitch in an additional $2 million for its construction.

The Spokane Public Facilities District will operate the stadium — saving the school district millions over the term of the contract — but Spokane Public Schools will retain 100 percent ownership rights and priority for scheduling events. The PFD will also allow the Spokane Public Schools to use the Podium — the sportsplex also near the Arena — for school events such as high school graduation. As part of the agreement with the PFD, the school district will also receive a share of all revenue from non-schoolrelated events.

The school district will partner with the Civic Theatre during design and construction to mitigate noise impact. The district and Downtown Spokane Partnership will also support a capital campaign from the Civic Theatre “to fund facility improvements” preventing noise pollution.

School board member Nikki Lockwood, the lone “no” vote on the downtown stadium, said she still had questions about the impact to the Spokane Civic Theatre. And she remains skeptical that this agreement addresses the reason voters rejected the proposal in 2018.

“I do wonder if we had a better advisory vote, what that outcome would be,” Lockwood says. “Have we addressed the issues that allowed the voters to say ‘no’ initially?” (WILSON CRISCIONE) n

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