Over the last few years, Bend parks have seen some change. From revitalization projects focused on environmental protections to projects designed to increase accessibility, plenty of parks around town have gotten a recent upgrade, with more on the slate for future revitalization.
As of writing this article, the Bend Park and Recreation District currently lists 12 park or trail projects currently in active planning, design or construction phases; the Riverbend South Access and Restoration plan, while counted as one of the 12 active projects, is listed as complete.
These projects are also outlined in the Capital Improvement Plan, a planning tool that guides the implementation of the BPRD’s more over-arching Comprehensive Plan.
The district is currently working to revitalize Big Sky Park, the Deschutes River Trail, Discovery Park, Fieldstone Park, Sawyer Park and others. Some projects, like Discovery West and the Drake Park project, are either fully complete or nearing completion. Others, like the Big Sky expansion, have estimated dates of completion set for the summer of 2024 and beyond.
Currently, the project on many people’s minds is the Drake Park project, now in its final stages. This project was allocated $7.3 million in funding and had a diverse set of goals.
“We’ve been planning the Drake Park Project for years now,” said Brian Hudspeth, development manager for BPRD. “It’s taken a long time to get to where we are today, and we’re finally seeing the end result.”
Goals for the project include the expansion and repair of the Deschutes River Trail, a revitalization of the banks of the river and Mirror Pond and the rebuilding of certain sections of beach that provide public access, to name a few. BPRD estimates that between 3,000 and 6,000 people float the river on any given summer day.
A driving force behind the project was to help make the park and the Deschutes River Trail more accessible to all members of the community, said Michelle Healy, deputy executive director of BPRD. “Regardless of one’s physical capability, they should be able to enjoy this experience,” she said. “That’s a big part of what we do, in what we build and in the programs that we provide.”
Recent improvements in Hollygrape Park are another example of this. The park recently underwent a pathway project that upgraded its somewhat crumbling infrastructure in accordance with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations.
When it comes to following regulations from the ADA and other governing bodies, Hudspeth clarified that regulations are not some lofty goals in the sky; instead, out of respect for the individuals who benefit from these regulations, they are seen as the bare minimum.
“We start by asking what the federal, state or city codes tell us to do, but we always try to go above and beyond what the code requires of us,” Hudspeth said.
Another key issue on people’s minds is environmentalism, and more specifically, how local parks are being built with the environment in mind. On that note, Healy said, “For the last 8-10 years, we’ve really tried to look at our designs in a way to be sustainable and more sensitive to things like drought conditions and wildfires. New design choices, like turfgrass at Alpenglow Park, for example, are being made so that our parks have a lower reliance on water.”
Additionally, Healy mentioned that the BRPD has a large commitment to the Deschutes River as a resource that is shared by many, including the many critters who call the river home; this means doing what the district can to protect access to the river, as well as the water quality and overall health of the river.
Lastly, a challenge the BPRD faces comes from the fact that Bend is growing quickly; competing interests can make it difficult to design and build parks where everyone feels represented. Some people want walking trails, some want e-bike trails, some want pickleball courts and other people want parks focused on disc golf. Healy said that conflict can arise when so many different opinions are present, but BPRD is more than equipped to listen to the community.
Planning long-term for new features or amenities is part of the process.
“The Comprehensive Plan is the overarching guiding plan, planned 10 years at a time, and accounts for the projects the District wants to get completed,” Hudspeth said. “The CIP [Capital Improvement Plan] is the funding plan for the next five years. It’s much more of a working plan, as it’s revised and updated yearly to reflect current project funding and completions.”
Functionally, the Comprehensive Plan leads the community in 10-year increments, while the CIP outlines exactly how those projects will be completed, while being updated yearly.
The Comprehensive Plan is the result of more than 17,000 individual and unique comments collected from community members that pertain to everything from environmental factors to aesthetic and functional ones.
Because the Comprehensive Plan is based on community input, it constantly changes. For instance, in 2012, the plan made a target of 6.5 acres of neighborhood and community parks per 1,000 residents. In 2018, that number became 7.85 acres per 1,000 residents. In 2012, the plan accounted for trails being used primarily as recreational amenities, and in 2018, the plan began to account for trails being used as “longer-distance transportation routes.”
Evidently, a massive part of upgrading our parks lies in the planning stage; the very first line of the Comprehensive Plan is a quote from Abraham Lincoln that reads, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”
Deputy Executive Director Healy echoes this sentiment, stating that planning out the future and taking in opinions from the community are vitally important. According to her, the community in general is very interested in preservation.
“When we communicate with the community, they always tell us to take care of what we have, even before new builds,” Michelle said. “Preserving and maintaining what we have now is a huge priority of the district, and that reflects our high-quality facilities.”
BPRD is planning a new community survey to debut in September, giving residents a chance to weigh in on their priorities.
This article appears in Source Weekly August 31, 2023.
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