These young people were photographed playing in Sorosis by a Chronicle photographer in 1964, when the ponderosa pines were young and vibrant. One goal of the current plan is returning shade to the park.
THE DALLES — After 785 beetle-infested ponderosa pines were removed from Sorosis Park, North Wasco County Parks & Recreation (NWPRD) began asking The Dalles residents what to replace them with.
Green space and shade topped the list. With planting and trail work done and a pavilion going in this summer, Phase I of the project is complete.
Future changes include a basketball court. Replacement of the iconic, but decaying, TreeTop playground is slated for 2025, as reported by Columbia Gorge News.
“The great thing about The Dalles is when you ask them what they want, they tell you,” said Scott Baker, executive director at NWPRD. “Asks for Sorosis are large and varied. So it’s a multi-phase project. We’re gonna get the bulk of the work done here in 2024.
“People love that park,” he added.
Full completion of all projects might take a decade, Baker said, adding the 20-year master plan includes “some very ambitious infrastructure development that’s going to happen over time, but I think we’re gonna make The Dalles an awesome place to live.”
Children had some great suggestions for Baker.
“A girl suggested and drew that we should have a slide ... that goes from Kelly Viewpoint to downtown, a hot air balloon to take people back to the top,” Baker recalled, laughing. “We’re saving that for a future phase of development. But it’s on the list.”
Bilingual community surveys covered farmers’ markets, stakeholders, and regular park users.
Just the first phase of work, redoing the irrigation and the first round of planting, cost more than $1 million, contributed by fundraisers and the city, county and parks district. “It was just a lot of infrastructure work that is going to serve as sort of a blank canvas for these other improvements,” Baker said. “And if you’ve been up there ... you’ll see that it’s quite a dramatic difference from what it looks like just in 2020.”
TreeTop playground gleams in March morning sunlight. At 26 years, TreeTop has exceeded its predicted lifespan.
Flora Gibson photo
Working off an early engineer’s cost estimate of just $900,000, NWPRD couldn’t accomplish everything they wanted in Phase I. A fundraiser in summer 2023, held throughout the community, aimed to fill that $347,000 gap. “We actually exceeded our goal and raised $370,000,” Baker said. About a dozen donors hit or exceeded the $5,000 mark.
That also paid for trail improvements.
The new playground, scheduled for construction next year, might take more fundraising in summer 2024, Baker added.
People “have been really enjoying” the improved trail, he said. Extended by about 1,200 linear feet, regraded and resurfaced in places, the trail is almost one mile long now. It’s more level, too.
People with some disabilities can access the trail, to varying degrees. “It’s a firm and stable surface, so you can navigate it with a chair, with a walker,” Baker said. “But the surface is not uniformly smooth. So if you have visual impairments that make seeing ground level difficult, it can be challenging,” some sections more so than others.
One new trail follows a “desire line,” or informal path created by many people crossing the grass to a Scenic Drive viewpoint. “We just improved it by putting actual steps in,” Baker said.
The newly-purchased 40-by-30 foot two-tiered squashed-hexagon pavilion is awaiting installation by Crestline Construction once the weather improves. “We’re shooting for spring,” Baker said. “Hopping to have it installed by mid-June. And it’s beautiful. It’s got a tongue-and-groove, underside roof, matte black posts, I think people are going to really like it.”
Challenges included plant selection. Species had to be suitable for the climate, and wind and fire tolerant. And all that is in flux for some species. “I noticed that we now have had new hardiness zone maps for the U.S.,” Baker said. “We’re grappling with the fact that things like Doug firs that used to do quite well here and are struggling now, and red and white oaks are better choices.”
These young people were photographed playing in Sorosis by a Chronicle photographer in 1964, when the ponderosa pines were young and vibrant. One goal of the current plan is returning shade to the park.
The Dalles Chronicle file photo
The 26-year-old playground must be replaced. With a projected life-span of 20 years when built, it’s kept intact with regular applications of sealant and wood preserver, but the wooden supports that touch soil have decayed. It’s also not particularly accessible, without much play value for people with mobility challenges.
The new TreeTop playground is in the early stages of planning. The park district has a match for an Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Local Government Grant program request for $700,000. That’s been approved, and a playground manufacturer selected.
“Very soon we will be reaching out to the community for folks who have an interest in helping us put the final touches, designs on the playground,” Baker said.
The design will emphasize two things: “Making it an accessible playground that’s fun for every member of our community and visitors to enjoy. And two, to find a way to creatively incorporate the handprints and router boards and other sentimental features of the current TreeTop playground.”
People will also have an opportunity to pick up those items, if they prefer keeping them to letting them be incorporated into a new playground.
“So we need to get one more summer out of it,” said Baker. “And then take the best parts of it off and re-purpose and recycle the rest, and then build a new playground that might look completely different, might be modern. And, you know, that’s okay. Things change.”
But Baker hopes the new TreeTop will be just as good or better, even if it won’t — just at the moment — connect to downtown via that inspired slide-and-balloon combo.
“I would just invite people to look for opportunities to be involved,” said Baker.
Information is available online at nwprd.org. Baker encouraged community members to call him with any questions.
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