PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — If you’ve been to Lents Park recently you may have noticed some trees with special markings. They’re designated for removal by the city as part of a years-long plan to revitalize the park and provide more ways for the community to use the space.
The handful of trees sit in a 38-acre layout just south of newly-refurbished Walker Stadium where the Portland Pickles baseball team currently plays.
Portland Parks & Recreation has been working to revitalize the park for years. Part of their plan involves moving the current soccer at the park field slightly north to make way for the installation of a synthetic soccer field.
In an email to KOIN 6 News, Mark Ross with PP&R said the tree removal is part of the Lents Park master plan going back to 2011. He says the idea was put in motion 5 years ago with what he describes as “extensive public involvement” through the city council and other public forums.
About a half dozen trees would need to be cut down for the new soccer field, which Ross says would result in a larger amount of uses and programming at the park.
In the long term, Ross says the changes will give everyone in the community more opportunity to utilize the park, not just people who play on the soccer fields.
He says it’s one of the key reasons the community supports the plan.
“It’s not a bad option,” Lents resident Roland Sandstrom said. “The kids will enjoy having a new soccer field to play on and trees do grow back… I think it’s alright.”
KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.
