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Portland Parks and Recreation has decided to pursue a bond measure in 2013 to fund the city’s parks.

The parks department hasn’t decided how much the bond will cost or which election will be the target for the bond measure. But Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the bureau, has said 2013 is the right time, according to Jim Blackwood, policy director for Fish’s office.

鈥淐ommissioner Fish feels that in order to keep the level of parks and recreation services Portlanders have come to expect, we need to invest to maintain what we have and increase our investment in聽parts of the city that may lack parks,鈥� he said.

A parks bond was last approved in 1994; that bond was $58.8 million. In 2010, Commissioner Fish floated a $125 to $150 million bond, but it never made the ballot.

Fish hopes the slowly improving economy will give this bond a better chance, Blackwood said.

鈥淲hen we first looked at this in 2010, the financial uncertainty was an overwhelming factor in many people’s daily lives,鈥� he said.

Fish is currently on vacation, Blackwood said. Planning and outreach for the bond will begin when he returns.