Orchard Park

Description

Orchard Park is a municipal park in Hillsboro in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 2003, the park covers a along Rock Creek in the Tanasbourne neighborhood. The park includes nature trails, a playground, and a nine-hole disc golf course. Employees of the R.E.I. store at the nearby The Streets of Tanasbourne adopted the park in the city’s adopt a park program.HistoryMetro, the regional government in the Portland metropolitan area, purchased of greenspace in 1997 using funds from a 1995 bond measure passed to buy greenspace in the region. The Nofziger family sold the property that was then along Cornell Road to Metro for $1 million. Cornell was later re-aligned to the north, with the old Cornell renamed Amberwood Drive.Hillsboro was given the property by Metro to develop a park, with the city expected to spend $1 million on development according to initial estimates. The funds to develop the park came from fees developers were charged when building in the city. The park was originally named Nofziger Park, and was to be mainly a wetlands preserve as the property is situated in the floodplain. It would also have trails along Rock Creek to connect to U.S. 26 north of the park.During the summer of 2001, students from Hillsboro’s Miller Education Center worked at the park site to improve the riparian area of Rock Creek and to gather data about the stream’s ecology. In 2002, the park was renamed as Orchard Park in honor of Hillsboro’s agricultural heritage, and construction of the first phase of park development began in July. The first phase built boardwalks, trails, wildlife viewing spots, bridges, and a parking lot, and was expected to be completed in December 2002. The old farmhouse remained standing through the first phase, with later development calling for its demolition along with construction of restrooms.