Connect > Park District opens four new neighborhood parks
Park District opens four new neighborhood parks
January 07, 2014
The Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District’s roster of neighborhood parks continues to grow. Four park development projects funded by the 2008 voter-approved bond measure – including new parks in Aloha and Bethany – have been completed, and each site is now open to the public.
Barsotti Park, 16610 SW Blanton St., Aloha, is the largest of the four. This 3.75-acre park is new, and it includes a THPRD first: a 60-foot youth tennis court designed specifically for players 10 years and under. It also features a multipurpose field that can accommodate baseball/softball practice as well as organized youth soccer and lacrosse activities.
The park’s most distinctive element is a viewing area behind the backstop featuring four large mounds. A hard-surface trail around the park’s perimeter weaves through these unique landforms to other amenities, including a covered picnic area, a 20-plot community garden (with four ADA-accessible plots), and a play area built on a resilient rubber surface that includes separate areas for younger and older children.
Barsotti Park is named for the Barsotti family, who lived and farmed at the residential site for nearly six decades. The family sold the site to the Park District following the 1994 bond measure to ensure that the land continued to provide opportunities for family togetherness.
“It’s a place where a lot of neighbors came to play,” said Dick Barsotti, one of 10 Barsotti family members raised on the property purchased by his parents in 1940. “Baseballs through the house windows and all of that. We wanted the property to continue to value families, celebrations and children.”
Barsotti said several members of his family visited the park during the holidays and came away impressed.
“A neighbor came by and talked about how her kids had been waiting for the park to open and were so excited to play,” Barsotti said. “That fits with what we had hoped. It was wonderful.”
Hansen Ridge Park, 4075 NW 147th Ave., Portland, is a small neighborhood park in Bethany amidst vast wetlands. The new park features a play structure, swings and picnic table. It also has meandering hard-surface pathways to make the natural area more accessible to visitors. The park is designed to eventually connect directly to the Westside Trail.
Interpretive signage will soon be installed at Hansen Ridge to provide visitors with a brief history of the property and its surrounding area, including the original Hansen family farmhouse located just west of the park, across 147th Avenue.
Roy E. Dancer Park, 5915 SW Murray Blvd., Beaverton, is a redeveloped site that provides new park amenities amidst existing natural surroundings, which will be enhanced with native plants by THPRD’s Natural Resources experts. A hard-surface trail surrounds the park’s perimeter, providing access to picnic tables and new play equipment at the east end of the park.
An easement allowed for the construction of a 100-foot boardwalk and staircase that makes the park accessible from the west, at 150th Avenue. An additional entry point at 148th Avenue provides access from the south.
Pioneer Park, 14545 NW Pioneer Road, Beaverton, is located just east of the Park District’s main Howard M. Terpenning Complex. At the redeveloped site, the play area has been relocated from a forested area to an open area at the southeast corner of the site, adjacent to the central lawn. One of two basketball courts was removed to accommodate a picnic plaza, drinking fountain, bike rack and new play structure.
The hard-surface trail was widened and a boardwalk was constructed at the west end of the park to upgrade the lower loop of a figure eight trail that extends around the lawn’s perimeter and into the natural area at the north end. Explorers can also access the upper loop, a reinforced soft-surface trail, through the natural area.
Pioneer Park is accessible via an improved entrance pathway off Meadow Road. Eventually, the park will connect to the Westside Trail at an entry point at the southwest corner of the park, near the newly constructed boardwalk.
Natural Resources will soon complete wetland and upland plant restoration at Hansen Ridge Park and Pioneer Park to improve the wildlife habitat for songbirds and small mammals. Improvements will include the removal of non-native plants and the installation of native trees and shrubs.
THPRD’s $100 million bond measure is designated to preserve natural areas, develop new trails and trail connections, add athletic fields, and upgrade or expand parks and recreational facilities across the district. About 130 total projects have been planned, and more than half are now complete. For details, visit www.thprd.org/bondprojects.
About THPRD
Formed in 1955, THPRD is the largest special park district in Oregon, spanning about 50 square miles and serving 230,000 residents in the greater Beaverton area. The district provides year-round recreational opportunities for people of all ages and abilities. Offerings include thousands of widely diverse classes, 90 park sites with active recreational amenities, 60 miles of trails, eight swim centers, six recreation centers, and 1,400 acres of natural areas. For more information, visit www.thprd.org or call 503/645-6433.
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Contact:
Bob Wayt
Director – Communications
503/614-1218 (direct)
503/686-5134 (cell)
Date: January 7, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Click here for official release (PDF).