Redmond park wins upgrade from Trail Blazers
Published 8:01 am Wednesday, March 21, 2018
- Redmond's Baker Park. (Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photo)
One of the oldest city parks in Redmond will receive funding for an all-abilities playground after securing the most votes in a competition hosted by Moda Inc. and the Portland Trail Blazers.
The winner was announced Tuesday, though vote totals were not immediately available on the website.
“On behalf of Redmond, I want to thank the Moda and the Trailblazers for putting in place a program which bridges the urban/rural divide,” said Mayor George Endicott in a written statement. “These funds will help seed some exciting new improvements to Baker Park. The kids in Redmond will love it.”
Baker Park, built in 1976, was nominated for the Moda Assist program — a partnership between the Trail Blazers and Moda Inc., the insurance company that has the naming rights of the arena where the Trail Blazers play.
The program donates $10 to the Trail Blazers Foundation for every assist made by a Trail Blazers player during the regular season. The funds then go to the community that receives the most public votes to help build all-abilities playground equipment and other park improvements.
“We’d like to see the Blazers average more assists per game,” City Manager Keith Witcosky joked.
Baker Park was the next scheduled project in the Redmond parks master plan. Winning the contest means the money the city expected to spend on improvements there can now be used for another project.
The project proposal for the competition included an updated play area, a walking path with adult exercise equipment around the park and improvements to make the parking lot more accessible.
Redmond beat out Roger Jordan Park in Dallas and Davis Park in Gresham in the competition.