By David Nguyen

Join Commissioner Fish, Director Abbate, and others to celebrate the kick-off of construction on The Fields Neighborhood Park, Portland's newest park!

On March 6, at NW 10th and Overton, we'll gather to break ground on The Fields, a 3.2-acre park including a dog park, one-acre lawn, paths, picnic tables, a children's area, and a Portland Loo.

Construction is scheduled to wrap up in the winter of 2013, which means the park will be open before spring arrives next year.

The Fields is the third of four parks envisioned in a 2001 study prepared for the River District URA. Jamison Square and Tanner Springs, two of the other parks, opened in 2002 and 2005, respectively. A potential Riverfront Park is also outlined in the study.

Funding for The Fields comes from the Portland Development Commission ($5.1 million) and from the System Development Charges PP&R collects from new development and property use changes ($400,000). System Development Charges are one-time fees designed to ensure that we have the funds to make sure our infrastructure can support a growing and increasingly dense city. The project doesn't include any funding from the City's general fund.

This is going to be a beautiful park - we're looking forward to seeing it take shape over the next year!

Construction begins on new Fields park

The Portland Tribune staff