more photosHeavy equipment loads a dump truck during construction on Riverbend Park in Bend. The park will have its own parking lot and features that will make it easier for maintenance crews to keep the landscaping healthy, despite the foot traffic of big events.
Andy Tullis / The Bulletin
Riverbend Park is taking shape
By Yoko Minoura / The Bulletin
Published: April 11. 2008 4:00AM PSTWhere people now see a dusty, bare lot near the Old Mill District in Bend, park officials envision festivals and other events.
Riverbend Park — to be built on a 13-acre parcel on the Deschutes River near the Columbia Street Bridge — is the first Bend park designed with events in mind.
“I think Riverbend is our next crown jewel, just like Drake Park has been over the years,” Bend Metro Park and Recreation District Executive Director Don Horton said. “It’s going to be a special place.”
The park will be dominated by large grassy areas, with a circular paved trail around the core of the park, according to design documents. Small plazas along the circular path will have water and electrical hookups for vendors, Horton said. The picnic shelter can also be used as a small bandstand for live music.
The district’s new administration building will be built on the northeast corner of the property, with a paved parking lot. Part of the parking lot will be equipped with water and power hookups, Horton said.
Horton said the extra cost of providing potable water and enough electricity for events makes up less than 5 percent of the total cost to build the park, about $2.3 million.
He pointed out that people are already using the Riverbend Park site for events such as the Polar Plunge, a fundraiser for Special Olympics, and the multisport Pole Pedal Paddle race.
“It made sense to design the park to accommodate not only those events, but events that might develop in the future,” Horton said.
Most park visitors are unlikely to notice the features that will make Riverbend better able to host events, said Jan Taylor, community relations manager for the park and recreation district.
But the features should make a significant difference to vendors, who often have to bring in generators for electricity during events at Drake Park.
The features also will make it slightly easier for park maintenance crews to keep the turf and landscaping healthy, despite the foot traffic that accompanies events such as Munch & Music, a weekly summer concert series, and the Great Drake Park Duck Race, in which thousands of plastic ducks bob down the Deschutes to raise money for local nonprofits.
The circular path in the middle of the park will be 12 feet wide — wide enough for delivery vehicles to use and keep them off the grass.
“Part of the concern about (events at) Drake Park is the compaction of the turf,” Taylor said.
Besides the wear on the grass itself, the weight of vehicles can compact the soil to the point that it damages the roots of Ponderosa pines, she said.
Riverbend, with its own parking lot, will also avoid the traffic nightmare that accompanies events at Drake Park. The district struck an agreement roughly 10 years ago to limit the number of events at Drake Park to no more than six per month, out of respect for the neighbors, Taylor said.
Although the district does not intend to displace anyone from Drake Park, Taylor said she wouldn’t be surprised if people choose to move.
“I would suspect we would have event organizers come up and say, ‘This is where we would rather be,’” she said.
Yoko Minoura can be reached at 383-0387 or yminoura@bendbulletin.com.
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