Peninsula Park (Portland, Oregon)

 park, wading pool, rose garden

700 N Rosa Parks Way
Portland, OR 97217
503-823-3620
www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyI...

Peninsula Park is a good example of a formally designed neighborhood park, typical of the early 1900s. It includes the city's first public rose garden and first community center, an historically designated bandstand, and Portland's second oldest playground.

The park was purchased by the city in 1909 for the sum of $60,000 with funds raised in a 1908 bond measure. Originally owned by local businesswoman Liverpool Liz, it had been the site for a roadhouse and racetrack for quarter-mile horse racing. An autopark and campground were also included in the original parcel. Planned by renowned Oregon architects Ellis Lawrence and Ormond R. Bean, the park was a result of Portland's 1912 'City Beautiful' movement. Completed in 1913, much remains of the original features, including the lantern-style streetlights, the stone pillars, vast brickwork, and the nearly 100-year-old fountain in the center of the rose garden.

The rose garden is one of Portland's most beautiful formal rose gardens, with 8,900 plantings on a two-acre site. Upon entering the park from Ainsworth and Albina Streets, visitors are greeted by magnificent plantings of 65 rose varieties which border the steps leading to the sunken rose garden, the only one in Oregon. The rose garden was the showplace of its time, with 300,000 visitors in the first year alone. The official Portland rose, named Mme. Caroline Testout, is maintained in the garden. Once planted by the thousands along the streets of Portland, this rose earned Portland the name 'City of Roses.'

The octagonal bandstand overlooking the rose garden was constructed in 1913. It was used for World War I patriotic demonstrations and is now the site for many summer weddings and concerts. This wonderful gazebo-like structure is a National Heritage historical structure and was designated a Portland Historic Landmark in 1973. It is the last of its kind in Portland.

The Italian villa-style community center is Portland's first and oldest. The Portland Lavendar Club, a dance and social group for women over age 50, originated here and it has been home to a women's volleyball club since the early 1900s. In 1957, the city zoo housed its Humboldt penguins in the center's pool for six months because the zoo lacked the proper facilities when the birds arrived from Antarctica. Many Portlanders still remember calling it Penguin Park!

Includes basketball court – outdoor, disabled access picnic area, disabled access restroom, fountain, horseshoe pit, paths – paved, picnic site – reservable, picnic tables, playground, public garden, rose garden, soccer field, softball field, stage – outdoor, statue or public art, tennis court – outdoor, wading pool or water play feature, and wedding site – reservable.