New Playground Coming Summer 2023!
After many years of use, the playground at Harney Park is showing signs of wear. A new playground will be installed in summer 2023. The update will expand the play area with a new swing set and will improve accessibility by using play tiles instead of bark chips as the surface.
Community had an opportunity to select elements for the new playground through an open house held on January 30 and an online survey that was open from January 31 to February 7. We appreciate the feedback and the responses we heard are being incorporated into the final design of the playground. We will share the design when it is completed.
Installation of the playground is planned for late summer 2023. Installation will take approximately eight weeks, during which the playground will be closed. We will continue to provide updates and timelines as the project continues.
Basketball Court Improvements
Portland Parks & Recreation, with support from Nike and the Portland Trail Blazers, has given the Harney Park basketball court a brand new look. This work was completed in July 2022.
If you have questions, please contact Ken Rumbaugh at 971-269-9042 or ken.rumbaugh@portlandoregon.gov.
General William S. Harney was the commander of the U.S. Army's Department of Oregon from 1858-59. Harney was instrumental in making San Juan Island, off Washington's coast, part of the United States rather than part of Canada. The park that bears Harney's name was originally a neighborhood eyesore; it was the location of illegal dumping and was a magnet for 4-wheelers out for a spin.
When the neighbors decided that something needed to be done, they applied for a Housing and Community Development grant from Multnomah County. The neighbors received a $50,000 grant and the assurance that the Marines would volunteer to grade the park. Due to the passage of the 1989 Park Improvement Levy, PP&R matched the Multnomah County funds. The community was able to drum up enough extra money to complete the project by gaining the support of the Portland Trail Blazers, the Rose Festival Association, and Precision Castparts, one of the major employers of the neighborhood's working population.
The renovations to Harney Park became a reality in 1991. About the collaborative effort that went into the project, Nick Sauvie of the Southeast Neighborhood Uplift Program said, "People need to work together. The government can't do it alone . . . here's an instance where Portland residents made a $50,000 investment and they got a park worth $200,000. For people who are really turned off by government's ineffectiveness, that's a very tangible return."