A groundbreaking ceremony for Loowit View Park is set for Saturday, June 4 from 11 a.m. to noon. Construction on the new Argay Terrace neighborhood park begins the same month with completion, barring delays, scheduled for summer 2017. COURTESY PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION

A groundbreaking ceremony for Luuwit View Park is set for Saturday, June 4 from 11 a.m. to noon. Construction on the new Argay Terrace neighborhood park begins the same month with completion, barring delays, scheduled for summer 2017.
COURTESY PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION

Last month, the Memo reported the status of the design and construction timing of Gateway Discovery Park for which there will be a public groundbreaking ceremony Saturday, May 7, at 11 a.m. (“Halsey/Weidler couplet work update” MCM March 2016). So what’s new? Portland’s 2 Percent for Arts Program funds a steel-and stained-glass sculpture representing a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis by former Pacific Northwest College of Arts professor Horatio Hund-yan Law in the Gateway Discovery Park plaza, according to Law and Peggy Kendellen of Regional Arts & Culture Council.

In addition, Luuwit (Loo-WIT) View Park in the Argay Terrace neighborhood is on its original schedule and budget, according to Mark Ross of Portland Parks & Recreation. The design is final and differs little from the originally “preferred” design (“Planners present Beech Park ‘preferred alternative’” MCM May 2015).

According to Ross, Luuwit View Park exercise stairs have been omitted as a cost-cutting measure, along with the small shelter and the portable restroom (but with a space reserved for the portable restroom); the four-person restroom borrowing on the louvered-walled-stall design of a Portland Loo; a slight change of location of the large shelter; and the addition of more stormwater treatment “infiltration basins.” Of course, there may be further tweaks resulting from cost negotiations and construction permitting, said Ross in an email. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, June 4, tentatively from 11 a.m. to noon. Construction commences the same month. Construction should be completed, and the park opened by summer of 2017.

Built in 2012, the bicycle pump track at Ventura Park is set for a makeover this spring. STAFF/2012

Built in 2012, the bicycle pump track at Ventura Park is set for a makeover this spring.
STAFF/2012

Kristin Calhoun confirmed that RACC has received a budget for Luuwit View Park artwork also as part of Portland’s 2 Percent for Arts Program. The featured artist, according to Calhoun, is Mauricio Robalino, a native Ecuadorian based in Tacoma, Wash. Atop the sculpture mound in Luuwit View Park stands a triangular abstracted bird form adorned with one of Robalino’s unique multi-medium mosaic designs.

The unusable Argay Park tennis courts are being analyzed for much-needed restoration under a Parks Replacement Bond. The design consultant team is led by Harper Houf Peterson Righellis, Inc., a Portland civil and structural engineering firm. They have completed their “exploratory” and site assessment work, including surveying and geotechnical studies, according to Ross. The firm has been designing the repairs to the site and assessing their costs. PP&R is planning to give an update presentation to ATNA as early as April 2016.

Argay Park’s four tennis courts require resurfacing and stanchion and net replacements. The surrounding area needs invasive species (e.g. holly) removal, bench plank and drinking fountain replacement, stormwater improvements, upgraded lighting and ADA access. The design should be completed by summer of 2016; the project should be permitted and go out for bids by spring of 2017; construction should take place during summer of 2017.

A different Parks Replacement Bond will fund improvements to Ventura Park, between Southeast 113th and 115th avenues and between Southeast Stark and Pine streets. A new playground is set for construction and a Portland Loo too, according to Ross. The bicycle pump track near Southeast Stark side of the park was added in 2012 (“Bicycle pump track, part of E205 Initiative, opens at Ventura Park” MCM August 2012) by NW Trails Alliance and PP&R. The recently placed mounds of earth near the existing track await a break in the weather for track drainage improvements and some slight track “flow changes” within the original footprint—work to be done by NWTA and volunteer workers this spring—according to volunteer steward and cycling enthusiast Jason Van Horn. Van Horn plans to post photos and videos for the NWTA and on his cycling blog as work on the pump track at Ventura Park proceeds.

For more parks information, contact Ross at mark.ross@portlandoregon.gov or call him at 503-823-5300. For more art information, visit racc.org. For more pump track information, visit bermstyle.com or call Van Horn at 415-310-5880.