Lents Park

Bless Field Update

We are overdue for an update about our Bless Field project. So let’s get to it.

  • Beating Seattle. Our kickoff event, Beating Seattle Never Gets Old: A Benefit for Bless Field was a huge success. Close to 250 supporters came out to the Hollywood Theater to relive some classic Timbers moments from the past and hear from the players that lived that history including Willie Anderson, Bernie Fagan, Roger Goldingay, Mick Hoban, Bill Irwin and Jimmy Kelly. Beating Seattle raised over $3,500 and much more in awareness for the Bless Field project.

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  • Art Takeover. You all remember the amazing Factory North event Art Takeover poster project last year benefitting Harper’s Playground? Well Art Takeover is back for 2013 and its looking to be bigger and better than ever. This year’s event is scheduled for August 10 and will feature limited-run felt pennants featuring designs inspired by Timbers Army songs, past and present. In addition, a number of large-scale, Portland inspired flags will be sold by auction. Sponsorship and support from the 107 Independent Supporter’s Trust, Coava Coffee, Salt & Straw, Widmer, Actual Industries, Seizure Palace and many more promise to make for an awesome way to support Bless Field.

  • Construction Update. Even though fundraising is far from complete, we’ve already begun investing your donation into Bless Field. Before construction can begin, we had to complete a survey of the site as well as a geotechnical soil analysis. The results of these two efforts will be used by our architecture firm, Group Mackenzie, to develop detailed construction designs that the contractor will use to build the field. Both these steps are complete and details construction drawings are underway. If you’ve been by the field in the last few weeks you may have noticed some work happening on the East side of the lot. This work relates to the bike hub and training paths operated by the Community Cycling Center and should not affect Bless Field.

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  • Bless Book. To assist help get the word out about Bless Field, OPI developed a interactive iBook packed with photos, videos and information about the project. If you have an iPad, you can download it for free from the Apple iBookstore. If you don’t have an iPad, you can get all the same information (without the fun videos, pictures and interactive features) in this PDF. Feel free to share this link with your friends and co-workers who are interested in learning more about Bless Field: http://bit.ly/BlessBook.

  • Park Project Update. Unrelated to Bless Field, we’ve completed two park repair events so far this summer in Willamette Park and Lents Park. We’ve also supported field and grounds restoration work by the Timbers Army Football Club at Marshall High School and Franklin High School. We’ve even acquired some line-painting equipment to get those newly refinished pitches looking sharp prior to match day. While we had to drop our planned June park event due to City budget constraints, we are still hoping for another event late in the summer.

Expect to hear more in coming weeks about Art Takeover. Thanks for all your support. As usual, you can keep up with us on Twitter @opipdx or by keeping an eye on our blog.

OPI Work Day: Operation Lents Park - April 20

Friends of OPI!

We are back for our first event of the season with field work at Lents Park. As in the past, PPR staff will be directing operations and lending a hand as we improve 3 pitches. We kick off promptly at 8:30 a.m. We'd love to have you out for our first event of 2013.

  • When is it? Saturday, April 20. Work begins at 8:30 a.m.
  • Where is it? We’ll be at Lents Park which is located at SE 92nd Ave and Holgate Blvd.
  • How do I participate? You must register on this Eventbrite page (free). We need 50 volunteers for this event. As usual, you'll be asked to sign the City's liability waiver when you arrive. By volunteering, you also agree to OPI's liability waiver.
  • What kind of work will we be doing? If you have been to one of our park events before, expect more of the same. We'll do stuff like spread fresh soil to level out the ruts in the pitch, lay seed, paint goal equipment, restore goal mouths and repair sprinklers. 
  • What should I bring? Work clothes, proper footwear and some work gloves will be all you need. Wear layers if it looks to be cool - sunscreen if the sun is baking. All other supplies and equipment will be provided by PPR.
  • How long will it take? Our experience with these events tells us that we should be done in approximately 4 hours. This is a big park, but many hands make light work.

If you can't make this event, keep an eye out for our other events this season on May 11, June 22 and August 31.