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After 10 years, park site in high-poverty Cully neighborhood gets first improvement: Portland City Hall roundup
By: Brad Schmidt - Jun 18, 2012
Source: The Oregonian
Ten years after the city of Portland acquired 25 acres for a park in Cully, the first improvements are scheduled this year.
Fundraising efforts by
Verde
, a nonprofit created in 2005, will pay for a new community garden. The garden will occupy less than one acre and is estimated to cost about $53,000.
Portland's Cully neighborhood is among the
poorest in the city
, with an estimated 35 percent of residents living below the federal poverty line. It's also one of the few areas where
non-white residents are the majority
. The park site is a former sand and gravel mine that went on to become a special waste landfill that continues to produce methane.
The community garden plan heads to the
Portland City Council on Wednesday for approval
. The city would kick in $13,500 for the community garden and cover annual maintenance estimated at about $6,000.
Portland officials have set a goal to open
1,000 garden plots by the end of the year
.
Verde has raised more than $1.2 million in grants and in-kind contributions for park efforts at Cully, according to the city, which includes a $577,000 grants from the Nature in Neighborhoods program through regional government Metro.
"Verde has done a great job," said Todd Lofgren, property and business development manager for Portland's Parks & Recreation Bureau.
Total costs for phase 1 development -- which would include trails, exercise equipment, a youth soccer field, a basketball court, a nature area, an off-lease dog park, and a "green" overhaul for Northeast 72nd Ave. -- are estimated at almost $3.8 million.
According to the city's master plan, total park improvements were
estimated to cost $11.8 million to $18.5 million
, depending on options.
When the community garden opens, it will be the only part of the site open to the public.
All news
Source URL:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/portlandcityhall/2012/06/after_10_years_park_site_in_hi.html