From private to public

Columbia Gorge News

PARKDALE — Following a three-year search for funds, and thanks to the generosity of owner Michael Mills, Hood River Valley’s Parks and Recreation District (HRVPRD) is set to purchase a property that’s central to the unincorporated town’s ethos, and protect it for perpetuity: Parkdale Park.

While serving as a public space for decades, Parkdale Park is privately owned by Mills, who inherited the four acres of land after his parents, Jack and Kate, passed on. While they were alive, both took on the role of groundskeeper and shaped the park’s character ever since acquiring it in 1987. For instance, they built a shelter for picnic tables and the old Hanel lumber truck, bought the horse sculpture fashioned with barbed wire and Kate would even help coordinate events like weddings, but would charge next to nothing.

“They maintained it, paid the taxes, paid the irrigation and paid the utilities to have it available to the public,” Mills said. “They were active in the community, and they had some resources to do some good things.” While his father was a banker and business type, helping to launch Full Sail Brewery, supporting the Mt. Hood Railroad and acting as a county commissioner, Kate was an environmental advocate.

She played an instrumental part in founding the Hood River Valley Residents Committee, a local land use watchdog group now called Thrive, and served on Oregon’s Environmental Council. Along with Nancy Russell, she also lobbied for the National Scenic Area Act of 1986, and a key part of her personal philosophy was making the outdoors not only accessible but also preserving it for future generations, Mills said.

Although he recognized and respected that vision, Mills saw other potential uses for the land, particularly multigenerational, affordable housing on part of the plot. The town’s wastewater system couldn’t accommodate a project of that size, however, and in the process of updating Parkdale’s Community Plan, Mill saw and heard how much residents valued the park, so he approached HRVPRD in 2023 with an offer. 

“I know my folks would be happy to see it all coming to fruition,” he said. “It was a way of saying thank you to them for all the things they have done for me by honoring their wishes for the park to be a public park.”

Mills agreed to sell Parkdale Park, also known as Red Barn Park, to the district at 80% of its appraised value and not entertain any other buyers for three years while HRVPRD pulled together the money. HRVPRD also paid a quarterly option fee to Mills that went toward the final sale. After voters rejected the district’s 2024 bond measure to help finance the purchase, HRVPRD applied for a grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department earlier this year and learned they were selected in September.

According to Mark Hickok, director of HRVPRD, the district is awaiting a contract from the state and expects to close the exchange by year’s end, which will make it HRVPRD’s sole property in the upper valley. Hickok acknowledged the district’s fortune and emphasized that, had someone else owned the property, Parkdale might have lost its cornerstone.

“Because it’s zoned commercial, that could be a cold storage warehouse or whatever else if it was sold, and you’d never get it back,” he said. “This whole deal wouldn’t be happening if we hadn’t had such a community-minded and just generous landowner like Michael Mills.”

The picnics, weddings and other gatherings will continue, shaded by birch trees and history. Once a hub of commerce fueled by the Mt. Hood Railroad, neighbors can still use the space to form connections and build community as they have for several decades, which Mills said is more important than ever right now.

“While I am helping the parks district with this one public park, it’s a reminder that many people in the upper valley give to the community on a daily basis,” said Mills. “We should honor those people and their contributions as well when we celebrate the park.”

Barrett Park update

Earlier this year, some speculation floated around online that HRVPRD was nearing a vote to sell Barrett Park, and then leverage that money to purchase Parkdale Park, which isn’t true.

As Hickock explained, some community members suggested the idea to HRVPRD, so the district board authorized appraisals of both properties to see whether it was even feasible. HRVPRD wasn’t anywhere close to making a final decision; however, some people on social media suggested the opposite.

“No one had ever said that there was a vote happening, but once that was out there on Facebook and other social media sites, it just kind of snowballed,” Hickock said during an interview in May. “It did not come from us. It was a rumor that got started.”

Since HRVPRD successfully applied for the grant to buy Parkdale Park, there’s now no need for the district to consider any action regarding Barrett Park.

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