Manito's Winter Season Now Runs Through the Gaiser Conservatory

In 2024, Manito Park's holiday season was one million lights strung through Duncan Garden for a walk-through show. The biggest holiday-season project the park's volunteer group has funded since then is out of sight. It's a boiler, and it heats the greenhouses and the Gaiser Conservatory.

That trade explains how Manito works from November through February. The two-week light show that drew cars onto South Hill streets is gone. What's left is a free glass house on the park's 1912 greenhouse site, open most days of the year. The Friends of Manito chose to keep it warm instead.

Where the Holiday Lights Money Went

The Friends of Manito canceled Holiday Lights for 2025. The group told KREM its reasons were the resources the event took, its environmental impact on the park, and the strain it put on nearby neighbors. Bob Young, then the group's president, told the station it came down to paying for a light display or paying for year-round park care:

"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."

Neighborhood traffic had been part of the problem for years. The show began in 2020 as a drive-through, when COVID rules limited gatherings. It ran in that format for five years before moving into Duncan Garden as a walk-through only. Young told KREM that the crowds, the cars driving through the park and the cars parked on the street "was a problem for a lot of neighbors."

The boiler went through the usual city approval process. At its August 12, 2025 meeting, the Spokane Park Board's Finance Committee approved a replacement project capped at $150,000 plus tax. In that plan, the Friends of Manito covers the first $100,000 and the City pays the rest, up to $50,000 plus tax. The Friends now lists the Gaiser boiler on its completed projects page as a 2026 contribution. In June 2026, retired plant sale manager Gabi Tilley told The Spokesman-Review, "Recently we helped replace the boiler in the Gaiser Conservatory." She said it keeps the tropical collection warm and will lower operating costs over time.

The money comes from the people who buy plants at the Friends' sales. All proceeds from those sales go back into park projects and maintenance. If you bought a hosta in the parking lot east of the conservatory last spring, you helped pay for the dome's heat this winter.

What the Boiler Keeps Alive

Young's "lose everything" warning makes sense once you see what's under the glass. Workers built a greenhouse on this site in 1912. Before Expo '74, it was updated to a nearly exact copy of that original Lord & Burnham design, with a metal frame in place of the original redwood. It's named for Dr. David Gaiser, a longtime Park Board member who paid for a major expansion of the central dome. The name dates to 1988.

The City of Spokane's conservatory page describes three sections, and walking them west to east takes you through three different climates:

1. The west end holds succulents, bromeliads and cacti. The cactus collection nearly doubled in 2001, when the John A. Droter family donated 100 large cacti.
2. The dome has the tallest plants, including a decades-old Norfolk pine, palms, ficus, citrus trees and a wall of orchids. A waterfall and stream were added on its west side in 2014.
3. The east section holds a large banana tree and a staghorn fern more than 10 years old.

Many of these plants were donated over the years, and donations make up a large share of the collection. The best-known holiday piece is a Christmas cactus Hattie Claypool donated in 1971. It was already almost 120 years old when she gave it. For the holidays, staff set out poinsettias, some of them more than 10 years old. Keeping a poinsettia alive for a decade takes a reliable heat source every winter, and that's the job the new boiler does.

The Gardens That Close Around It

The conservatory matters more in winter because the rest of Manito's paid-staff attractions keep shorter seasons. By early November, the park's other destinations look like this:

The Friends have also been working on the gardens that are now closed. The group's Fall 2026 newsletter says it recently helped fund restoration around the Japanese Garden, plus new picnic tables for visitors. Last year, plant sale money also went to ongoing repairs on the Duncan Garden fountain, according to Tilley in the same Spokesman-Review piece. The fountain, the Japanese Garden grounds and the boiler are all permanent parts of the park, and that's where the Friends' recent money has gone.

A Calendar Built for Short Days

The conservatory closes at 3:30 p.m., which fits how early it gets dark in November. A midday visit works best. The Gaiser is open every day except Wednesdays. It's also closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Admission is free all year. Pets aren't allowed, with service animals the only exception. Portrait photography and tripods are also not allowed, which matters if you're thinking of holiday card photos among the poinsettias.

The displays change on their own schedule. Staff update the conservatory as different plants flower and peak through the year. Over the winter, staff also force tulips, daffodils and hyacinths to bloom early. After the holiday poinsettias, those bulbs go on display in late winter and early spring.

The surrounding park also has a long winter history. A Spokane historic survey of the city's parks and boulevards records winter sledding at Manito and ice skating on what's now called the duck pond. That's park history. It doesn't confirm that the pond is safe for skating today, and Spokane Parks hasn't announced any skating access for this winter.

What Remains Open About December

As of late October, the Friends of Manito has not announced a 2026 Holiday Lights display, a replacement event or a decision to skip a second year. When the group canceled the 2025 show, it said on its website: "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." The group's Fall 2026 newsletter lists only September events. The last were the clearance plant sale and the Plant Bingo Night at Press Public House. Sharon Spadinger now leads the board as president.

The group's next project points back to the conservatory. Its current projects page lists an upgrade to the environmental sensors and control system for the greenhouses and the Gaiser Conservatory as upcoming, with no schedule posted. After a new boiler, the next step is better controls for running it. Two projects in a row on the same building show where the Friends of Manito is putting its money.

Anyone who wants a say can join or renew a Friends of Manito membership for $35 a year. The group is also taking candidates for its 2027 board of directors. Board members serve three-year terms and meet on the second Monday of each month. Since 1990, the group has contributed more than $1 million to Manito Park.

At SpokaneREAL, we count the Gaiser Conservatory among the South Hill places that stay open all winter. It's also one reason homes near Manito keep their appeal in every season. If you're wondering what living a few blocks from the park means for your own plans, we'd be glad to talk it through. Schedule a private market consultation with Patricia O'Callaghan and Denise Fox whenever the timing suits you.