Rassekh Park Development
Rassekh Park Project Update
In early 2021 Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation staff, in coordination with a team of design consultants, began the process of engaging the community in the design of the new 10-acre community park called Rassekh Park.
Fast-forward to the summer of 2022, and in August, after a year-long design process and several public hearings, the project received land use approval. The City went out to bid for construction of Rassekh Park in the fall; however, the bid opening revealed that constructing the park would require significantly more funding than anticipated. On December 20, 2022 the City Council voted to postpone the Rassekh Park project until a funding strategy is developed.
Today, the Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation Department is regrouping and working on a solution to bring the Rassekh Park project to fruition. There are several considerations as Parks & Recreation reevaluates the project, including:
- Working with City Council to source additional funds.
- Developing a phased implementation plan for the park’s features.
- Looking at alternative value engineering ideas.
Parks & Recreation is appreciative of all those who have been a part of the journey to realize this project thus far. The Department aims to identify additional funding and continue the project with budget considerations and a revised timeline.
What is this project about?
The City of Lake Oswego is developing a new multi-purpose sports field, play area, and skatepark at the Rassekh property on Stafford Road. Athletic fields in Lake Oswego are in high demand, and public outreach conducted in June 2019 identified new fields as a high priority to be funded with the parks bond money. Read more about the 2019 bond outreach efforts here. This new community park will help meet that demand, fulfill the vision of Parks Plan 2025, and meet City Council’s goal of implementing bond-funded Parks & Recreation projects. Once completed, Rassekh Park will be a place for young athletes, sports fans, families, and neighbors to play and compete.
The design for Rassekh Park includes an multi-purpose athletic field, restrooms, a maintenance building, a parking lot with a drop-off area, planted stormwater facilities, walking trails, a covered picnic area, an expanded play area, a protected natural area surrounding Pecan Creek, and a 10,000 square foot skatepark. The design was informed by the input received from the community during the project's multi-year outreach effort.
Where are we in the process?
The design process for Rassekh Park is now complete! Thank you to everyone who participated in the advisory committee meetings, community meetings, open houses, and neighborhood meetings. The land use application for this project was approved in August 2022. The project went out to bid in the fall of 2022; however, the bids came in significantly higher than anticipated. The City is now in the process of identifying funding and developing a phased implementation plan for the construction of the park.
December 2022: Bids were opened in November 2022; however the bids came in significantly higher than expected. On December 20 the City Council voted to postpone the Rassekh Park project until a funding strategy is developed.
September 2022: Bid documents are being prepared and the release date for the RFB is October 11. Anticipated date for Council award of contract is November 15, with construction beginning in December.
August 2022: The development application was approved at the DRC meeting on July 18 and findings were approved on August 1.
April 2022: The Land Use Application is now complete, link is on the right.
April 2022: Final Traffic Impact Analysis has been received. This document can be located under Other Materials on the right side along with the updated Project Schedule. The Land Use resubmittal will be will be complete within the next week.
March 2022: The Online Rassekh Park Community Meeting 2 was held on Monday, March 7, 2022. The meeting video is under Notices on the right side.
February 2022: A PAC Meeting #5 was held on Thursday, February 17. Meeting Video is under Notices on the right side.
January 2022: City Council approved a Design / Build contract with California Skatepark at their January 18th meeting.
December 2021: At the City Council Meeting on Dec. 7th the Council voted to bring the Rassekh property into the Urban Service Boundary (USB). Currently the park design has been submitted to planning for Land Use Review. The design is at 100% design development phase and is moving into Construction Document phase. The current plan proposes adding a larger play area, a picnic shelter, and more picnic tables to the existing preferred plan. Council previously directed staff to add a 10,000 square foot skate park to the project. Staff is currently working on hiring a skate park design / build firm to assist in design, public engagement and construction of the proposed facility.
October 2021: Community Meeting was held online on Wednesday, October 13, 6 - 8pm. The video link is posted under Notices.
October 2021: PAC #4 Meeting was held Tuesday, October 5, 6pm to 7:30pm. Video link and minutes are posted under Notices.
August 2021: Online Neighborhood Meeting was held on September 29. The recording has been posted under Notices.
August 2021: Thank you to those who attended the Rassekh Park Neighborhood meeting and shared your comments and concerns. We have posted a recording of the meeting under Notices. Please feel free to follow up with questions and comments to the project manager.
August 2021: The Rassekh Park Neighborhood Meeting will be held at 6pm on Tuesday, August 17, 2021 in the Willow Room, LO Maintenance Building, 17601 Pilkington Rd, Lake Oswego OR 97035.
July 2021: Thank you to everyone who provided input on the initial three park concepts. The design team is currently working on generating a design concept that best reflects the feedback received from the neighborhood, community, and stakeholder group while aligning it to budgetary, planning and engineering requirements. Based on all of this input, the design will continue to evolve in order to incorporate the preferences and priorities that have been expressed. The emerging park design concept will be shared with the community for additional feedback in late August.
June 2021: Give us your input on the design ideas for Rassekh Park! The city is developing a new multi-purpose sports field and play area at Rassekh Park, which is located at 18011 Stafford Road. After over 600 people responded to the first survey, the design team have developed three design options that reflect the current needs and future vision for this site. Take a virtual tour through these options and tell us what you think!
May 2021: Thank you to those who took the visioning survey. We had over 600 responses! The results can be found in the attachments section or at the Rassekh Park Website.
April 2021: Please take the first survey for Rassekh Park. The survey will be open until April 25. Visit the Rassekh Park website
February 2021: The contract for architectural and engineering services has been signed. The design will now progress.
January 2021: The request for proposals is now closed and the contract for architectural and engineering services is being worked out. When the schedule for design and public engagement has been created, updates will be posted on ways the public can get involved.
Kyra Haggart
Park Analyst / Project Manager
Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation
P.O. Box 369
Lake Oswego, OR 97034
Phone: 503-697-6576
Email: khaggart@ci.oswego.or.us
May 5 2022 - 6:00pm
Apr 21 2022 - 5:00pm
Mar 17 2022 - 5:00pm
Rassekh Park Land Use Application
DRC Public Hearing Meeting Link
Palisades