NEWBERG, Ore. — The community had its say last week on several major upcoming parks projects.
The Chehalem Park and Recreation District held two open houses on Wednesday, Nov. 19, and Thursday, Nov. 20, to share details and gather public feedback on plans for Renne Field, the Ewing Young Park program, and potential new opportunities for recreational mountain biking.
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Kat Ricker, CPRD’s public information director, said more than 70 people attended in person and another 25 joined virtually.
“We had lots of people go to things that they were interested in, plus there was a lot of crossover between other projects as well,” Ricker said. “It was a really positive atmosphere, and we got lots of really good feedback on it.”
CPRD collected 829 responses to its community input survey. Respondents rated CPRD’s services an average of 3.7 out of 5. About 73% said they visit local parks at least once a week, and 44% participate in programs or activities weekly.
The top five household recreational activities were hiking (11.6%), biking (10.7%), horseback riding (9.4%), swimming (9%) and playgrounds (7.7%), according to the survey.
CPRD and the Newberg-Dundee School District plan to improve the track area at Renne Field in the summer of 2026. Planned upgrades include artificial turf, an eight-lane synthetic track, a concessions stand, restrooms, two pickleball courts, an ADA-compliant pathway and lighting.
For Ewing Young Park, CPRD plans to build a pedestrian and maintenance bridge over Chehalem Creek to open access to 11 undeveloped acres. That area could eventually include additional trails, an expanded disc golf course, and emergency and maintenance access.
CPRD also hopes to explore new opportunities for mountain biking but has not identified a location.
“We were trying to provide information to the public about these projects. An exception to that would be the bikes,” Ricker said. “Clay (Downing), our superintendent, was leading a breakout session trying to hear from the bike community on what their needs are, so that we can try and locate if there’s a location that would be a good opportunity to facilitate outdoor bike recreation.”
While the district operates the BMX track at Ewing Young Park, mountain biking was removed from Bob and Crystal Rilee Park in favor of hiking and equestrian uses.
“The board expressed that it’s a priority to find whether there are suitable locations in our district that we can offer the biking community, so this is the first step toward that — assessing what the needs and wants are,” Ricker said.
The renovation of Spring Meadow Park also came up. CPRD staff shared inspiration images for modern, inclusive playground equipment and asked for input on what features might be most welcome.
“It hasn’t been renovated in, well, ever. It’s 32 years old, so that one really needs a reboot,” Ricker said.
Next, CPRD staff will meet internally to discuss takeaways from the open houses, then present their findings to the CPRD board on Dec. 4.
“We’re really grateful for those who attended. We were really pleased with the attendance and the enthusiasm and the feedback that we’ve gotten … and we’re also really grateful for the volume of people who participated in the survey,” Ricker said. “We want to take all of this feedback and discussion and draw some findings from it, and then just keep it going so we can shape the directions we’re going with the best fits for the community.”
See the full report HERE
