By: Inka Bajandas//November 5, 2014//
Inka Bajandas//November 5, 2014//
Planning and design could start as soon as next summer for Portland Parks & Recreation maintenance projects funded through a multimillion-dollar bond measure approved by voters on Tuesday.
Preliminary election results showed Measure 26-159 passing with 72 percent of the vote. The bond, over 20 years, will raise between $56 million and $68 million via property tax revenues, according to estimates. The tax rate of 87 cents per $1,000 of assessed value will be equal to the rate of an existing bond that voters passed in 1994 and will expire in 2015.
Parks officials plan to spend bond money on major maintenance at playgrounds, pools, trails and Pioneer Courthouse Square; however, the soonest the funding could come through is July 2015, Portland Parks & Recreation spokesman Mark Ross said. The earliest construction could begin is spring 2016, he said.
Now that the bond measure has passed, city staffers will further identify maintenance priorities and schedule projects, Ross said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to be working on over the next few months,鈥 he said. 鈥淐onstruction timelines and schedules are being finalized.鈥
Bond money will go toward more than $365 million worth of maintenance projects identified by park officials in need of completion in the next 10 years. Parks officials鈥 top priorities include: repairing or replacing 10 to 20 aging playgrounds, fixing several public pools, maintaining trails and bridges in Forest Park and other nature areas, and improving disabled individuals鈥 access to park facilities.
Money from the bond also is likely to go toward maintenance at Pioneer Courthouse Square, which recently marked its 30th anniversary. Work would include replacement of a waterproof membrane under the plaza鈥檚 tiles that was intended to last only 20 years and has deteriorated to the point that rainwater leaks into the TriMet office on the square.
Another planned project is replacement of the corroding water filtration system at the Grant Park outdoor pool, one of the parks system鈥檚 most heavily used swim facilities. Extensive repairs also are needed at the Matt Dishman Community Center and Peninsula Park pools.
Parks officials have been forced to close all or portions of city playgrounds because equipment is unsafe, Ross said. Bond money will help pay for equipment replacements.