Partners will celebrate Summer Creek natural area Friday with a nature walk and commemorative ceremony
The City of Tigard is starting 2011 with good news: Summer Creek natural area has been protected as the city’s second largest park – and a signature accomplishment of Metro’s voter-approved natural areas bond measure.
Partners will celebrate the 43-acre natural area Friday with a commemorative ceremony and a walk through the site, behind Fowler Middle School on Southwest Tigard Street. Summer Creek’s namesake waterway meets Fanno Creek on this mix of forest, wetlands and open space, which is home to turtles, frogs, salamanders, red-tailed hawks, owls and herons. The site has long served as an outdoor classroom for students, and environmental education will expand as the land becomes a publicly open park.
The Tigard-Tualatin School District purchased the property for a possible future school, but wound up changing plans. City leaders targeted the site as a park, and the national conservation group The Trust for Public Land helped negotiate a $5.3 million sale.
The deal was finalized in December, with funding cobbled from diverse partners – more than 40 percent of it tied to Metro’s 2006 natural areas bond measure, which is designed to protect water quality, wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation opportunities for future generations. The City of Tigard paid about $2.8 million, including nearly $900,000 of the “local share” Metro distributes to cities, counties and park providers to invest in community projects. Washington County contributed $400,000 from its share of the natural areas bond, and Metro awarded a $1 million Nature in Neighborhoods grant funded by the bond. The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board awarded a $1 million grant, and Clean Water Services provided $100,000.
“Summer Creek offers us an unusual opportunity to preserve a natural area in the heart of urban Tigard, and we’re happy that Metro has been able to play a significant role in making it available to the public for generations to come,” said Metro Councilor Carl Hosticka, who represents the southwestern part of the region.
Friday’s event is open to the public and includes speeches, light refreshments and a walk. Meet at 11 a.m. at 11096 SW Tigard St.