City, college set park plan on fast track
TIMELINE -- University wants to begin its $8 million makeover of Forest Grove’s Lincoln Park by February 2007
Pacific University officials pitched their ambitious proposal to upgrade the sports facilities in Forest Grove’s Lincoln Park last week and made it clear that if the fields of their dreams are to become a reality, the city will need to hustle.
The Forest Grove Recreation Commission responded Wednesday by authorizing city staffers to work with the university on getting the proposal ready for a presentation to the city council later this month.
The plans, which include an Olympic-sized track with a synthetic infield suitable for soccer and lacrosse, would dramatically change the face of Forest Grove’s largest public park (see map and stories in this week’s sports section).
The plans also would require unprecedented collaboration between the university and the city, as they balance the needs of the public, wanting access to public park space, and the needs of Pacific’s sports teams, which need a place to practice and compete.
Tom Gamble, director of the city’s and recreation department, stressed at last Wednesday’s meeting that although Pacific would pay for the improvements, the city would retain ownership of the existing 22.5-acre park and ensure that local residents and recreational sports leagues would be able to use the public space.
“We’re not in any way, shape or form talking about selling the property to the university,” said Gamble, who noted that the city already allows Pacific’s baseball and softball fields to use the park for practice and games.
“With the new facilities, we’re probably in a better position to share the facilities with the community.”
Those new facilities include a regulation-sized soccer field and a smaller practice field, two softball fields, a baseball field, a walking trail, play structure, bathrooms and at least 100 additional parking spaces.
Darlene Morgan, Pacific University’s vice president for finance and administration, said the school hopes it can get everything it wants for $8 million.
That’s a $2 million jump from the amount budgeted for the university’s longtime plans to build a sports complex on property it owns on Cedar Street, Morgan said. The gap, university officials said, would be closed by the sale of that property, known as “Cannery Fields,” and fundraising (See “If they build it … ” page 1B).
Officials from local outdoor sports leagues expressed both excitement and concern following Pacific’s presentation to the recreation panel.
The addition of a synthetic field, new bathrooms, bleachers and other amenities are desperately needed in Forest Grove, they said, but they also see potential problems.
Long-term, they noted that the reconfigured park could reduce the number of fields suitable for adult softball leagues and could limit the hours available for youth soccer practice.
Short-term, Pacific’s plans would mean that most of Lincoln Park would be off-limits next year during construction.
Ken Schumann, the university’s athletic director, said the university would like to begin work next February.
The idea, he said, is to get the construction done in time to plant grass in spring, so that it could possibly be used in 2007.
To meet that deadline, Gamble has put the proposal on the city council’s Nov. 27 agenda. That timeline caused some concern among recreation league boosters, who want to be able to comment further on the plan as details are worked out.
Gamble said that although the plans will move forward at a fast clip, the city will ensure that the people most affected, including those living adjacent to the park, are consulted.
“This is a preliminary plan and no decisions have been made,” he said. “But, the truth is we can sit and talk and talk and talk about this and nothing will get done.”
Gamble added that Lincoln Park has never been envisioned as the place to accommodate the growing demand for athletic fields in the city. He noted that the city made an offer on a parcel of land southeast of town that is six times the size of the park. When the seller sold to another party who declined the city’s offer, officials began condemnation proceedings, which are underway.
Should the city be successful in acquiring that land, Gamble said, it could take much of the pressure off Lincoln Park. “This is not the end-all, be-all sports complex for Forest Grove,” he said.