New Playground Coming!
After many years of use, the playground at Harney Park is showing signs of wear. PP&R will install a new playground in over the spring and summer of 2025. 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, 2023 and an online survey that was open from January 31 to February 7, 2023. This feedback was reviewed and incorporated into the final design of the new playground.
Project Updates
May 2025
Construction crews hit a few snags during the demolition phase and the playground equipment installation is delayed while they continue to move the concrete work that will be underneath the playground forward despite our rainy spring weather. The crews are working hard to try to start the playground equipment installation. They are a local neighborhood company, based just a few blocks from Harney Park, so they know how important this project is to the community. Once the concrete is in place, we’ll be able to provide another update for project completion.
April 2025
Construction is starting! Perhaps you’ve noticed the fences in place and the excavator ready to go on SE Harney Street? Once the erosion control inspection is complete, construction crews will begin taking out the old play equipment. Beginning May 1, crews will begin shaping the ground for the new play area and pouring concrete. New playground equipment will be built starting May 19. If we have good weather, the new playground will be re-open just in time for the start of summer.
Construction crews will be working Monday through Friday between 7am and 5pm most days between now and June.
The contractor’s construction entrance is located on SE Harney Street across from SE 68 Avenue. Construction crews will try to keep the sidewalk clear, but during equipment loading and unloading the sidewalk on SE Harney may be blocked. Please use the loop pathway inside the park if you’re able. If you want to get a close-up view of construction activities, the picnic tables north of the bathrooms (between the basketball court and the playground) provide a great front row seat! The sidewalk on the south side of the playground is a good alternative, too.
February 2025
The construction contractor has been selected, and we will install construction fences within the next 2 weeks. Existing equipment and sidewalk will be removed from the site to make space for the new playground and play surfacing. Come and watch the construction progress over the next few months!
Most areas of Harney Park remain open for use, but the play area and the playground park entrance on Harney Street will be temporarily closed for the next 4 months. A temporary wood mulch pathway will complete the pathway loop around the park.
December 2024
We’re happy to announce that the construction work for the long-awaited park improvements is on track for work to begin February 2025!
A heartfelt thank you to community members for your patience and support throughout this process.
The permit review is complete, and permit requirements were approved. PP&R Professional Repair and Maintenance Services will work with site contractor to prepare for construction by installing fencing around the play area and taking measures to protect existing trees, as well as the irrigation system. They will remove existing play equipment, benches, picnic tables, and concrete.
During Construction the play area will be temporarily closed to the public. The rest of Harney Park will be open for use. Construction is expected to take approximately four months, with the new play area opening in Spring 2025. The new play area will include new playground equipment, play surface tile, benches, and picnic tables.
September 2024
New play equipment, benches, and picnic tables are being made by contractors and will arrive at Harney Park early next year. The final colors were updated based on public feedback from 2023.
The playground layout is being changed to protect the irrigation system and trees already in the park. This fall, Portland Parks & Recreation crews will get the site ready for construction by putting up fences, removing the old play structure, benches, picnic tables, and concrete, and protecting the new drainage system that was put in in 2018.
A contractor will be chosen soon to begin site work in February 2025. Construction will take about 3-4 months, and the play area and picnic tables will be closed during that time. We will try to keep the rest of Harney Park open as much as possible.
Anticipated Project Schedule
• November 2024 – January 2025: Pre-Construction activities (site prep and demolition)
• February 2025 – May 2025: Construction
• June 2025: Playground Opening
If you have playground specific questions, please contact Jenna Stathopoulos at 503-201-6765 or email jenna.stathopoulos@portlandoregon.gov
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.
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."