Park Redesign Shows Off Lake Oswego River View
By Janet Goetze, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
Feb. 16–Walking into Lake Oswego’s redesigned George Rogers Park is like stepping into a 19th-century painting: The Willamette River, reflecting the trees along the shore, stretches into the horizon in the muted browns and greens of an overcast day.
The shelf of land, once the site of an iron smelting operation and then a grassy park, has been above the confluence of Oswego Creek and the river for uncounted years. Only recently, however, has the park regained a spectacular river view, a new staircase to the river’s edge and a wheelchair ramp with a vantage point above the sand.
George Rogers, a Portuguese immigrant who became a grocer and later a Lake Oswego mayor, had the foresight to turn the former industrial site into a park a half-century ago. He tended some of the first plantings in the greenspace where the brick remnant of the iron smelter still stands.
Over time, flowering shrubs at the edge of the grassy shelf grew thick enough to obscure the view of the river. When the city used voter-approved bond money to redesign the park’s walkways and bring the smelter out from overgrown foliage, it seemed logical to provide visual and pedestrian access to the river.
Who knew, though, how spectacular that view would be?
“It takes your breath away, really,” said Jane Rasmussen, who has lived in Lake Oswego a little more than two years and usually visits the park on her daily walk.
A few park details will be completed over the next few months, including more steps and picnic tables, to accompany outdoor grills shaped like the historic smelter, said Kim Gilmer, director of the city parks department.
Walkers already are using the park, and runners and walkers continue to use a paved trail that crosses a footbridge over Oswego Creek and winds uphill from the park.
As the trail ascends, the view of the Willamette widens. Less than a city block up the pavement is the first of several benches. From this spot, viewers can look over a low wall to see the speed of the river current.
On the left is a bird’s-eye view of George Rogers Park and the new stairway. More startling, however, is the opportunity to look into the arched opening of the furnace, where fire once turned ore to pig iron.
As the pathway continues up, the light changes with the density of leaves as geese honk overhead. Other birds call, too, and then a dispenser comes into view. The city provides plastic sacks beside a sign reminding dog owners to clean up after their pets.
The short hike can be extended out of the park and along the Old River Road pathway that continues into West Linn. Blackberries line part of the road, but some property owners have plants and grass framing views of the river.
On the way back down the paved path, a squirrel, probably accustomed to treats, may run along a railing to keep company with hikers.
Back in the park, Jack Ross, a school bus driver who grew up in Lake Oswego, said he likes to relax near the river, and he enjoys the new view.
“They chopped out a lot of brush,” he said, waving his arm toward the edge of the park. “It’s a lot better this way.”
Cecile Ashley, a general contractor who walks in the park daily, said, “I love it that you have this wonderful vista. On the other hand, there were some wonderful old rhodies and honeysuckles here. I wonder if they were able to save any of them.”
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