In 2025 the Friends of Manito chose between two uses of the same money: a two-week light show or a heating system that keeps the Gaiser Conservatory's plants alive through the winter. They picked the heat. The new boilers are in, and the conservatory they protect is now Manito's main reason to visit in December. The rest of the South Hill's holiday calendar has moved to Perry Street and to 57th and Freya.
What two weeks of lights were up against
In a KREM report on the 2025 cancellation, the Friends of Manito gave three reasons for calling off the show: the resources it took, its environmental impact on the park, and the stress it put on nearby neighbors. Bob Young, then president of the Friends, told KREM the decision came down to the display versus year-round park maintenance.
"We're donating over $100,000 to buy new boilers for the conservatory. If the boiler goes out, we're gonna lose everything in the conservatory. That's what we're really doing."
That is how Young put it to KREM.
The show had already been shrinking. Spokane Parks & Recreation told KREM the drive-through version started in 2020 as a response to COVID gathering guidelines and ran as "a wonderful 5-year show." In 2024 the Friends moved one million lights into Duncan Garden and made the event walk-through only. They said the change was meant to ease traffic for neighbors and lighten the load on volunteers. The cancellation a year later finished that trend. Each version of the show had asked a little less of the park than the one before.
Where the boiler money went
The boiler was not a wish-list item. Spokane Park Board minutes from August 21, 2025 say the existing boiler at the Gaiser Conservatory "has fully depreciated and is in need of replacement." At that meeting the board voted 10-0 to award the contract to ACI Northwest for no more than $120,990.09 plus tax, paid from the Parks major repair and replacement reserve.
The minutes record the Friends' pledge as $100,000, which covered most of the cost. The minutes put the net expense to Parks at $20,990.09 plus tax. The minutes list what the contract paid for:
- Two high-efficiency 700k BTU boilers, replacing the single old unit
- A heat exchanger, a primary pump, two secondary pumps, an expansion tank and controls
- Removal of the old boiler, plus permitting, electrical and plumbing
- A target of at least 75 degrees in the conservatory rooms
- A 12-month contractor workmanship warranty and a manufacturer's limited lifetime warranty
Board member Doug Kelley pointed out that with two boilers, the units would take turns and extend the life of both. Because of that design, a donation the Friends made in place of one season of lights pays off over many winters.
By June 11, 2026, Park Board minutes listed "a boiler replacement" among completed projects. The Friends' project page now lists the Gaiser Conservatory boiler as a 2026 contribution, next to its 2025 repair of the Davenport Fountain in Duncan Garden.
What the Friends have said about lights since
When the Friends canceled the 2025 show, they left room to bring it back. They wrote that "in 2026, we plan to revisit the idea and explore ways to create a celebration that spreads holiday happiness while caring for our Park and our neighbors."
As of mid-October 2026, no 2026 Manito lights event had been announced. The old holiday-lights page on the Friends' site now returns a not-found message. The city's list of 2026 news releases runs through October 16 and includes no Manito holiday event. Nothing has been canceled for 2026, so the question is still open. But any 2026 holiday plan at Manito would be starting from nothing.
The Friends' Fall 2026 newsletter shows where the group's attention is. Its 2026 event list ends in September with a clearance plant sale at the park and a Plant Bingo Night at Press Public House. President Sharon Spadinger's letter calls the annual plant sales the group's main fundraiser for the park. She notes that the Friends have given Manito more than $1 million for improvements since 1990, and that they will keep working with Spokane Parks & Recreation on "needed improvements, both visible and invisible." A boiler room is one of the invisible ones.
The Friends' current projects page lists two more upgrades along the same lines: an ADA ramp from the Gaiser Conservatory down to Duncan Garden, with design funded by the Friends and installation planned for a later date, and new sensors and controls to track temperature and humidity in the greenhouses and conservatory. Both projects, like the boiler, support the conservatory year-round.
December at Manito is a conservatory visit
The building the boilers heat is free to visit. The city's Gaiser Conservatory page lists hours of 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every day except Wednesday, with closures on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Displays change with the seasons. The holiday display includes a variety of poinsettias, and tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are forced over the winter for late-winter and early-spring shows.
The schedule is very different from the lights. The light show ran in the evening and drew heavy traffic. The conservatory closes at 3:30 p.m., which on a December afternoon is close to sunset. A visit to the poinsettias fits a lunch hour or a Saturday morning, and it takes no planning around crowds.
The rest of the park gets smaller as winter comes on. The Nishinomiya Tsutakawa Japanese Garden is listed as open daily from April through October, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., so its listed season closes with October. The Park Bench Café's season, according to the city, runs from late May through September. By November, the conservatory is the main indoor stop at Manito, and the boilers keep it open through the cold months.
The rest of the South Hill's December, in date order
Without a two-week show at Manito, the neighborhood's confirmed holiday events are spread across a few single evenings and weekends in other parts of the South Hill.
- Journey to Bethlehem, December 4 to 6. This walk-through Christmas pageant takes place at South Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church, at the corner of 57th Avenue and Freya. Doors are open 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. No tickets or reservations are needed. The cast includes more than 100 actors from eight denominations, along with sheep, goats, donkeys and a camel. Organizers say about 5,000 people attend each year. Plan for a line and 25 to 30 minutes outdoors once your tour starts. Parking is at the church, with overflow across the street at Followers Church. Details are on the Journey to Bethlehem site.
- Very Merry Perry, December 11. South Perry Together hosts this free evening in the Perry District from 5 to 7 p.m. Santa poses for free photos on the porch of Wishing Tree Books from 5 to 6 p.m., then helps light the tree at 6 p.m. in front of South Perry Pizza. Organizers list it as family and pet friendly, with street parking. Details are on the Very Merry Perry page.
- Making Spirits Bright at Cowley Park. The KXLY Extreme Team, led by Mark Peterson, sets up this display at Cowley Park just outside Sacred Heart Children's Hospital. KXLY's Extreme Team coverage is the place to check for this year's lighting date.
Of these, Cowley Park comes closest to what Manito used to offer: lights in a park, organized by a nonprofit team rather than the park's own Friends group. Journey to Bethlehem and Very Merry Perry are different kinds of events. One is a pageant at a church on 57th, and the other is a tree lighting in front of a pizza place on Perry Street. Each runs for an evening or a weekend, not two weeks.
The Gaiser Conservatory, kept at 75 degrees by two new boilers the lights helped pay for, is open six days a week through the season, closed Wednesdays and on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.
If December on the South Hill also has you thinking about your home's next chapter, the team at The Collection follows this neighborhood closely. We would be glad to offer a complimentary consultation and home valuation over coffee, before or after a visit to the poinsettias.
