After decades of planning and pondering, Metro is making significant strides in plotting the future of Willamette Cove — a 27 acre plot of land along the Willamette River in North Portland. Metro bought the land in 1996 and recently released detailed concept renderings of what a future park at the site will look like.
Keep in mind, the federally recognized “superfund” site (along with all the riverfront land from the Steel Bridge to the Columbia River) was the location of heavy industry a century ago and toxins that remain in the soil still require a massive cleanup effort. But that hasn’t stopped Metro and the community who live around the site to envision how they’d like to access the park in the near future.
Metro released designs for the future nature park on Monday. “The design brings together trails, viewpoints, locations to access the water, areas for quiet reflection, restored habitat for plants and wildlife, and places for learning and gathering,” Metro says on their website.
The park is bordered by N Richmond Avenue in the north and a BNSF railroad line (and bridge) to the south. The current plan is to build a parking lot and main entrance off of Richmond Ave. The parking lot would have bike parking too, and folks would be able to access two paths. One of the paths will be the future North Portland Greenway and would be a 12-foot wide paved experience, and the other would be a more park-specific 4-6 foot wide nature trail for a, “more immersive, habitat-focused experience.”
Metro considered building a path over the water, similar to the floating section of the Eastbank Esplanade; but project managers ultimately rejected the idea due to concerns about cost and complexity. “We believe this decision aligns with what we heard from community members,” Metro states. “During the second round of engagement, we asked about tradeoffs between different design elements. In our survey, 71% of respondents said the walkway was not worth the cost of giving up other park elements.”
As Metro continues to refine a preferred design for the park, they’ll add this to the Willamette Cove Comprehensive Plan which will then go to the full Metro Council for adoption. When might we be able to walk and roll at this cool new park? One year ago, the Metro staffer in charge of community engagement on the project said the public could begin visiting the park by 2029. But I’ve heard just today from Metro that the new estimated opening date is 2032.
Learn more about the Willamette Cove Nature Park design and sign up for project updates here.
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