Portland gets $400K toward creation of 24-acre park in fast-growing neighborhood
Plans are in the works to build a new park in Portland’s fast-growing North Deering neighborhood.
The 24-acre park will be one of the largest in the city's park system.
The city received a $400,000 federal grant through the U.S. Department of Interior’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership program to buy two properties to create the public greenspace, according to a news release. The exact locations were not disclosed.
“This is great news not only for the neighborhood surrounding the future North Deering Park, but for the entire region,” said Portland Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities Ethan Hipple. “Looking forward 100 years from now, the neighborhood and the city may grow and change. But thanks to this ORLP grant and the partnership of Trust for Public Land, this special place will still be wild, beautiful and open to all.”
A national nonprofit, Trust for Public Land, has been working with the city to raise the funds to acquire the land and will work with residents to design the park that meets their needs.
“With this federal funding for the North Deering Park, Portland is one step closer to joining the few cities in America where 100% of residents have a park within a 10-minute walk of home,” said Trust for Public Land Maine State Director Betsy Cook. “Protecting this land will ensure the North Deering community will have access to bike, walk, hike, play and explore the outdoors in their own backyard.”
While most Portland residents live within a 10-minute walk of a greenspace, some in the North Deering neighborhood don’t have such close-to-home access, the trust said.
North Deering Park will be near Lyseth Elementary School and Lyman Moore Middle School, opening opportunities for outdoor learning and offering a public place for children, according to the release.
The North Deering neighborhood, bordering the Maine Turnpike and historically an agricultural and residential area, has seen a steady growth of investment over recent years.
The boom has included the $11.75 million sale in 2021 of an office building at 5 Davis Farm Road, the sale earlier this year of a portfolio of three commercial buildings that sold for $8.7 million, the acquisition and planned $10 million renovation of an affordable housing complex called North Deering Gardens, and the planned $42.5 million construction of a nursing home called Fallbrook Care Center.
The Portland grant is part of a federal allocation of $61.1 million to 26 cities across the U.S. to create new parks and trails, or substantial renovations to existing parks.
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This is a wonderful project & legacy! Count me in as a citizen who wants to be involved with input and use! Thank you, Portland! ❤️
The schools already have tons of green space that is way under utilized! Wish the town would just take care of what we already have instead of adding space that they will fall under more areas they can't maintain!
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