nature first: BPrd starts ConstruCtion on the alPenglow CoMMunity Park

nATuRe FIRsT

Bprd stArts ConstruCtion on Alpenglow Community pArk

by shayna WiWierski

A new park is coming to the southeast corner of Bend.

Construction officially started earlier this year on the Alpenglow Community Park, a 37-acre community park in southeast Bend at the intersection of SE 15th Street and Murphy Road. The project has been years in the making after a 2012 bond measure was passed by residents with part of the money being used to purchase the park site.

“This project came to be because we were deficient in park space in that part of town. Southeast Bend happens to be the fastest-growing part of town,” says Ian Isaacson, project manager for the Bend Parks and Recreation District (BPRD). “Currently it’s an undeveloped lot; it’s wooded and has some rock outcroppings on it. Prior to the park district purchasing this property, it was planned out to be a neighborhood full of homes. So the purchase of this property for the park is allowing us to maintain a lot of the very cool natural characteristics of the site.”

The park, when it is completed in 2022, will include an open lawn space, a demonstration garden, one pedestrian bridge, a bouldering area, a playground, a spray ground, an event space, an offleash dog area, natural trails, and multiuse pathways around the area. It will also have three parking lots, a full-flush restroom and shade structures.

Overall project cost totals $13.3 million, with that funding coming from two sources. $3.7 million for the purchase of the property is being funded through a community-passed bond measure in 2012, and the remaining funds coming from System Development Charges (SDC) for the development of the park. SDCs are fees that are charged when new homes are built in Bend. The park SDCs go directly to the park district to fund new development and park spaces, so there is growth paying for growth.

Planning for the park started four years ago, beginning with a one-and-a-half year-long master planning process which included extensive public input on the types of things that the community wanted to see. In 2017, they continued into the design phase with their design consultants, Environmental Science Associates (ESA) out of Portland and an extensive team of subconsultants, including PBX member BECON Civil Engineering & Land Surveying (roadway civil engineering).

Construction officially started earlier this year on the Alpenglow Community Park, a 37-acre community park in southeast Bend at the intersection of SE 15th Street and Murphy Road. Renderings courtesy of Fieldwork Design & Architecture.

The park, when it is completed in 2022, will include an open lawn space, a demonstration garden, one pedestrian bridge, a bouldering area, a playground, a spray ground, an event space, an off-leash dog area, natural trails, and multi-use pathways around the area.

Tracy Johnson, principal landscape architect and project manager at ESA, says that this project is unique in that is it bisected by a rock ridge that separates the north from the south section. The feature is designated as an ‘area of special interest’ by the City of Bend which means that they need to work around it and minimize disturbance other than a few paths. The park is also located on a pretty heavily wooded site where there are around 1,200 trees. Johnson says that they will be saving the majority of them and only taking out 125 trees, mostly in areas where they have more intensive grading or development.

Johnson adds that since the trees are such an interesting and extensive resource, BPRD wanted to focus on a more naturalized park rather than add a formal sports field, hence the desire to preserve as many trees as possible. They will keep the character of the natural landscape and then supplement it with key features. There will be an extensive trail network that loops throughout the

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Planning for the park started four years ago, beginning with a one-and-a-half year-long master planning process which included extensive public input on the types of things that the community wanted to see.

area and connects off site, as well as a bridge that connects across the railroad tracks along the west property line, connecting it to the neighborhood. The bridge will provide a safe connection for people and kids coming into the park, as well as to schools that are developing to the south.

The team is also utilizing some of the dirt roads and trails that currently bisect the park as the framework for the path system in the park, as well as for construction access to minimize the amount of traffic and disturbances to the trees.

The team is also utilizing some of the dirt roads and trails that currently bisect the park as the framework for the path system in the park, as well as for construction access to minimize the amount of traffic and disturbances to the trees.

Construction started in February and first, crews accessed the site on the east and travelled in on one of the main roads to the west property line, which is next to the railroad. They will start with building

There will be an extensive trail network that loops throughout the area and connects off site, as well as a bridge that connects across the railroad tracks along the west property line, connecting it to the neighborhood.