Fifteen years after Portland city officials first promised a neighborhood park for Slabtown, residents got an early look at the project and a chance to share input this week — even as the one-acre site at Northwest 20th Avenue and Northwest Pettygrove Street still needs its contaminated soil cleaned up before a single tree can go in the ground.
Portland Parks & Recreation held a public open house at Slabtown Square on Wednesday to gather neighborhood input on the park's design, according to KATU. The agency has also scheduled drop-in office hours for Saturday at the Northwest Library so more residents can weigh in, per Portland Parks & Recreation.
The site's past is part of why the project has taken so long to reach this stage. The lot was originally part of Consolidated Freightways' headquarters for trucking operations and remains listed in Oregon DEQ databases for historic underground storage tank leaks and soil contamination, according to agency records. Low levels of arsenic have been found at the site, leading the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to require a Contaminated Media Management Plan to guide soil remediation and depaving before any construction can begin.
A Park Promised in 2011, Still Not Built
The proposed park was first designated as public open space under the Con-Way Master Plan, approved in 2012, with the expectation that a park would be completed by roughly 2015, according to the Northwest Examiner. That timeline slipped by more than a decade. The land transfer and park development were stalled for nearly eight years amid legal battles and land-use appeals filed by the Northwest District Association, the Northwest Examiner reports.
Developer Guardian Real Estate Services acquired the double block in 2015, built the Slabtown Square apartment building on the western half, and ultimately donated the eastern half-block parcel to Portland Parks & Recreation in August 2025, according to the same outlet's reporting. That donation closed the long gap between the city's original 2011 promise and an actual piece of land in public hands.
Tight Budget Meets Cleanup Costs
Portland Parks & Recreation has budgeted $5 million for the project, but bureau officials warned in January that inflation and environmental remediation costs threaten to consume much of that funding, the Northwest Examiner reported. The city was applying for a $1.9 million EPA grant to help cover the gap.
The surrounding Slabtown area has transformed dramatically since the park was first proposed. What was once an industrial warehouse district is now a high-density neighborhood home to more than 4,200 residents as of 2025, according to the Urban Land Institute, a shift that has fueled intense local demand for accessible green space.
Neighbors Get a Seat at the Design Table
Portland Parks has selected Lango Hansen Landscape Architects to design the park, with initial community-informed design concepts expected in early 2027, the city agency says. To help steer those priorities, the bureau selected a 20-member community focus group from 138 applicants, with applicants notified in the agency's September 28, 2026, update. The group is made up of 45 percent renters, 50 percent homeowners, and local school parents.
Hoodline reported the closure of a celebrity-backed distillery this summer. For now, the park itself remains a work in progress: design concepts aren't due until early 2027, and actual construction depends on finishing the environmental cleanup and locking down funding.
