Fields Park grand reopening still on ice
Construction project, delayed by city permits, knocks out use of Pearl green space for second summer
Pacific Power’s big tunneling project under the Willamette River has knocked out the heart of Fields Park for two summers, instead of one as projected.
Pearl neighbors are eager to get back their park, the site of many summertime festivals and events, plus heavy daily use by residents and visitors. Bill Truncali, chair of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association’s parks committee, estimates that about 10,000 visitors have not come as a result of the two lost summers.
The neighborhood association had scheduled a reopening celebration in early July, but there is still no celebrating. That party was postponed, and best estimates are that it could be November before people can walk on the grass of the park’s central oval.
That means it may be April before the weather is right for a celebration event.
The original city permits encompassed about two-thirds of the oval, but Portland Parks & Recreation asked Pacific Power to expand the post-construction restoration to encompass the entire oval. That was deemed efficient because the irrigation and drainage system under the oval is integrated.
Pacific Power was ready to begin in early July, according to company business manager Bob Gravely, but the Portland Bureau of Development Services deemed that the change required a new permit application and process. That pushed things out another six weeks or so. Work resumed Monday.
Why does it take six weeks to revise a building permit issued to another department of the same city?
“I don’t know why,” Truncali said. “It’s been frustrating, especially needing new permits.”
Ive actually done some research into this and am VERY confident that the failure actually does lie with Pacific Power. Bob Gravely is very good at spinning this story but not very good at presenting the facts. Pacific Power has multiple times failed to secure the proper permits for this project and has not held their contractor accountable.
Here is a copied response I received from Portland Parks:
"However, the initial restoration plans submitted by the contractor were found to be insufficient to meet City and community standards. To address this, Pacific Corp brought on landscape architecture firm NNA to develop improved restoration and enhancement plans, which include full restoration of the Field’s Park and upgrades to the park’s drainage and irrigation systems.
Because the construction impacted more than 10 cubic yards of surface area, the restoration work triggered the need for a Site Development Permit from the Portland Permitting & Development (PP&D). This requirement is based on the scale of land disturbance—not due to the inclusion of the upper third of the park’s oval lawn, as some community members believed."
Somethings not right here, but guess what... Us residents get to take the brunt of the mistakes of Pacific Power who has no regard for our neighborhood. I wish there was a group of people that represented the tax payers to hold Pacific Power responsible for their failures... OH wait that should be Portland Parks...