City hosts Wade Creek Park celebration Saturday

Wade Creek House hosts park fundraiser beginning on Friday

By Evan Jensen

The Estacada News, May 14, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Evan Jensen / Estacada News

The City of Estacada will host a grand opening celebration at Wade Creek Park on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 747 N.W. Wade Street.

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On a sunny Friday afternoon, a handful of children scramble up the rock wall at Wade Creek Park. A few more children laugh and play on the jungle gym. A little boy rides the zip-line back and forth, while several youngsters circle the merry-go-round, getting dizzier by the second. Nearby, empty strollers line the sidewalk and a group of parents visit while keeping an eye on the kids.

A year ago the 3.6-acre site was an empty lot, but then state grants, donations from local businesses and citizens and $15,000 from the Estacada Community Foundation provided the funding to build the first city park.

On Saturday, the City of Estacada will host a grand opening celebration at the park, located at 747 N.W. Wade Street, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The celebration will include a ribbon cutting ceremony, live music by the Oh Brother Band, crafts and refreshments.

“This is the first city park in Estacada,” Estacada Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Steve Guilliams said. “We want people to come and celebrate, because it’s their park. A lot of people have been using the park, especially when the weather’s nice. It’s great to see people out there enjoying it. This park is the result of state grants and real generous donations from business owners and people who stepped up to help us out.”

Wade Creek Park features a playground with a rock climbing wall, merry-go-round, swings and jungle gym. A trail surrounds a small pond frequented by ducks, birds and wildlife, and the park also includes restroom facilities and a paved parking area. The park is the first phase in a long-term project for the location that includes the adjacent Estacada Public Library. Guilliams and supporters hope to raise awareness about the site and gain support for the next stage of the project.

“We want to build a skate park next to the park,” Guilliams said. “We’ve come up with a plan to purchase the property and plan to build a 10,000-square-foot skate park there. Right now we are formulating a plan to purchase the property.”

The City needs approximately $210,000 to purchase the adjacent property for the future skate park, and supporters have raised approximately $125,000. To help support the next phase of Wade Creek Park, members of the Wade Creek House will host a weekend yard sale at 664 N.W. Wade Street from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. All proceeds will be donated to support Wade Creek Park.“We do something every month, so we decided to do something for the community,” Wade Creek House owner Becky McFarland said. “We’re neighbors with the park, and we thought it would be good to help out. We have all kinds of donations for sale that will all be reasonably priced.”

The Wade Creek House sale will feature fabric, tools, household items, clothing, games, toys, collectibles, books, videos and other items for sale to help raise money for the skate park.