Lynchview Park plans solidify

See what neighbors will gain when this Centennial neighbored park opens. If you missed the latest open house, you have until April 16 to chime in …

At an open house on the edge of outer East Portland, folks meet to look at plans for the Lynchview Park Project.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

Since it was purchased by Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R), Lynchview Park has simply been several acres of grassy lawn, with few amenities other than a sign noting its presence, placed just west of Patrick Lynch Elementary School.

But, after a nine-month process, the Lynchview Park Advisory Committee has shown off the results of its efforts to select improvements and amenities for the park. It happened at an open house on the evening of April 5, in the nearby elementary school’s gym.

Here, examining one of the displays highlighting the new park’s playground area, are Russian-speaking community representative Hanna Grishkevich and Spanish community representative Gloria Vilchis – standing with PP&R Bond Community Engagement Maija Spencer, and Lynchview Park Advisory Committee member Amber Stadler.

“Now, Lynchview Park is a wide-open grassy field with a grass soccer field, and nothing else,” said PP&R Bond Community Engagement spokesperson Maija Spencer at the open house.

“Tonight is our final public meeting; we’ve been holding community meetings since last September about how to develop this park,” Spencer said. “Here, were showing the final Draft Plan of the improvement project that we’ll be building next year, in the summer of 2019.

“And, along the way, we’ve also had a Project Advisory Committee giving input along the way as well,” Spencer told East Portland News.

This PP&R illustration shows improvements to the park.

Amber Stadler, a member of the committee, commented, “The outcome is great; I think this will be a park that serves a community of all different ages.

“I’ve taken the time to be involved in this project, because it’s been a vacant field for so long,” Stadler said. “It’s going to be exciting, and is going to become a usable space for the community. We can have a nice new public space for people to gather, meet, play, and celebrate our neighborhood.”

Here’s a closer look at the proposed play area. PP&R illustration

All amenities considered, the main new feature will be a playground.

“It’ll be a modern-type playground; it’s good to have a large climbing mound, sliding and swinging options, and some interactive water play that kids can manipulate. The park will have ‘modern design’ playthings that don’t tell kids what to do and how to play with them,” Spencer remarked.

The play area will likely be similar to playgrounds at the recently-opened Lents Park, and Luuwit View Park in the Argay Terrace neighborhood [click on those links to see stories about each park’s grand opening].

A tasty part of public meetings are meals, like this one – with food from Tienda De Leon at NE 167th Avenue and Gleason Street.

PP&R Project Manager Gary Datka said that these park improvements are being paid for with about $1.4 million in funds coming from the 2014 “Parks Replacement Bond”, and $1.8 million from Portland Parks & Recreation System Development Charges.

The open house was the last public meeting opportunity for the community to comment the finalizing design. But wait! You can still comment online!

Didn’t get to comment on Lynchview Park Project? There’s still time to do so, online.

First, check out the PP&R page for this site: CLICK HERE. Then, click on their SurveyMonky page: CLICK HERE, to comment.

And, keep watching next year for the announcement of the grand opening of the finished park.

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