George Rogers Park, covering 26 acres located on the corner of Ladd and South State Street, has been the jewel in the Lake Oswego parks system for many, many years. This community park site includes two baseball/softball fields, a soccer field, two covered picnic shelters, access to the Willamette River, a memorial garden area, rest rooms, playground, picnic tables and two outdoor tennis courts. This beautiful, riverfront park has seen heavy use over the years and has not been updated or improved to meet the needs of is users. The need to upgrade and improve the park has brought about the process to develop a master plan.

The process to develop a master plan for George Rogers Park has begun. The City has hired the firm of ATLAS Landscape Architecture to develop the master plan and work with city staff  through a process that will incorporate a vision for the park, goals and objectives, plus park programming. Key stakeholder representatives, including the architecture group, City staff, business leaders and citizens will meet over the next few months to develop a plan for the city's busiest park.

The first meeting of the stakeholders took place on Monday, October 22. City staff and city consultants were introduced and the public process was presented. It was explained that this meeting will be the first of many during this public process. Future activities will include focus group interviews and community workshops. The planning process is expected to take approximately seven months.

Those present at the first meeting discussed vision goals and objections, ideas for future programming and issues which may be discussed during the process. Goals included overcoming resistance to change, compromising, understanding the process, being involved and being heard, appreciating the volunteers, consultants and staff  and including all interested parties. The master plan process will also determine the values of George Rogers Park. Those values will include the history and memories of the park, characteristics, locations and uses.

The master planning process will establish ground work for planning (October), site inventory; analysis and program development (October-November); development of master plan alternatives (November-January); identification of a preferred master plan (January-February) and development of the master plan (February-May). The preferred master plan is expected to be presented to City Council during July-August.

Minutes of October 22, 2001 Meeting of Stakeholders
Minutes of October 8, 2001 Meeting
Minutes of November 15, 2001 Meeting
Minutes of December 6, 2001 Meeting
Minutes of January 3, 2002 Meeting
Minutes of February 7, 2002 Meeting
Minutes of March 21, 2002 Meeting
Meeting Schedule

For more information on this project, please contact Kim Gilmer, Director, Parks & Recreation at 503-675-2544, or .