By Mark Kirchmeier | the North Peninsula Review
at Northgate Park on N. Fessenden
The public involvement phase for the planned two-pool Aquatic Center at Northgate Park will reconvene in early December. The center, scheduled to open in five to six years, will replace Columbia Park pool that Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) closed amid controversy in 2022. The Parks Bureau also closed Pier Park Pool for virtually the entire 2024 summer season because of the failure of its 80-year-old water pumping system.
The upcoming Northgate Project Advisory Committee and Focus Groups meeting, tentatively set for Dec. 10 or 11, was announced by PP&R consultant Jenna Wooley. The agenda will cover introduction of the new project design team led by Scott Edwards Architects and Perkins & Will. The firms will review the Regional Art & Cultural Commission “Dream Team” draft art plan.
The cost of the planned aquatic center has increased from $50 million to $102 million in the past year. PP&R Director Adena Long’s communications office has explained that the cost increase is partly due to inflation, higher than expected labor and material costs and the bureau’s desire “to deliver a first-class, full-service aquatic center.”
Meanwhile, the Friends of Pier Park continue to assert that Parks has consistently failed to adequately invest in maintaining Pier Park Pool. They are planning a meeting with Parks Director, Adena Long, to discuss this and other topics.