PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — There are less than three weeks left to visit Blue Lake Regional Park before it closes down for the next several months.
Oregon Metro, the government agency that oversees Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties, will close Fairview park to the public on Tuesday, Sept. 5 to allow crews to renovate the space.
According to an article from the agency, officials have already started to dispose of old structures and replace some water lines using funds from the 2019 Parks and Nature bond measure.
The next phase of renovation is underway. Oregon Metro will continue to replace and improve water and sewer lines, which includes “digging trenches and moving heavy equipment throughout the park.”
Because of this, Blue Lake Regional Park’s closure is projected to last through spring 2024.
Senior Capital Projects Manager Brent Shelby said this is the first time the agency has shut down an existing park for this long, but the difficult decision to close shows the scope of the project.
“Some of the park’s water and sewer lines are more than 50 years old, and they run through much of the park,” Shelby said in the article. “When we’re done, we’ll have a system that will provide a foundation for a renovated park that can welcome many future generations of visitors.”
Other park updates will include a renewed operations and maintenance facility and a restored fishing pier. Oregon Metro started to renovate the facility in July and will begin work on the fishing pier in October.
According to the agency, Blue Lake Regional Park’s disc golf course is expected to remain open throughout the project.
Earlier this summer, officials said they would also use bond measure funds to restore areas like the Hoyt Arboretum, Rose City Golf Course, and Frog Pond West.
