FAQs

Golden Gardens is a 223-acre public park in the Bethel neighborhood of northwest Eugene between Clear Lake Road and Jessen Drive. Ponds at the park’s center were originally gravel pits used for Beltline Road construction in the 1950s. The City of Eugene acquired the park’s first 36 acres from Lane County in the 1970s to use for park and open space. A series of drownings catalyzed efforts in the mid-2000s to increase safety, improve habitat, and promote more activity at the park.  

A 2006 planning process identified long-range improvements for Golden Gardens Park. These proposed improvements included an eight-field sports complex, a BMX track, a dog park, neighborhood park amenities, and continued habitat enhancements with recreational trails. 

Additional acquisitions occurred in the 2000s, including 170 acres in 2007 with funding from the 2006 Parks and Open Space bond measure. Much of the added acreage has been farmed under a lease agreement while the park awaits development. 

The Golden Gardens Park concept plan will establish the overall uses and locations of the park’s amenities.  There are three components to the project: a neighborhood park site, habitat protection and a sports complex. To create the plan, the City is engaging with key stakeholders and the broader community and working with designers and technical experts to identify, evaluate and choose from preferred design concepts. Key decisions in the process include how to allocate space to different land uses and activities and which amenities and features to include.  

Following the concept planning process, additional analysis and work will be undertaken. This includes a triple bottom line analysis of potential field materials, a phasing plan and cost estimate, and a refined financial analysis and operating plan. For development of this scale, it is likely to be built in several phases over a period of 10-15 years. 

The City of Eugene lacks field space to accommodate the demand for youth and adult sports at all levels, informal and competitive. The shortage of fields forces teams to vie for the limited space, creating accessibility and equity issues citywide, and lead to teams traveling to Portland, Corvallis, Medford and beyond to enjoy the physical, mental and social benefits of team sport. 

A 2017 study confirmed market demand, recommending the construction of 16 diamond and rectangle fields and identified Golden Gardens as the only suitable City-owned land for the sports complex. In 2018, voters overwhelmingly approved a Park and Recreation Bond measure which included plans for development. 

The concept plan process is guided by a City staff project team and advised by a Park Advisory Group. The advisory group comprises roughly eight to 12 representatives of key stakeholder organizations and identities, including the Active Bethel Community (ABC) neighborhood association, Bethel School District, sports programs, ecologists and environmental advocates, and existing park users and neighbors. Focused feedback from underrepresented community members and broad community feedback from public meetings and associated online survey data has been vital to making design decisions and striking a balance of habitat preservation and park development in Golden Gardens.

Research from the National Recreation and Park Association shows that when children play sports, they increase their chances to grow up healthy, feel good about themselves, build friendships, develop skills like teamwork and respect and are more likely to succeed in school and in their future careers. Building this facility in the Bethel area eliminates a major barrier to sports participation and access to quality playing fields. 

The expected revenue from non-residents traveling for regional tournaments can have a broader economic impact on the community and particularly Bethel through restaurant and hotel spending. Planning studies have found that these types of services are desired in the Bethel area. A destination sports complex can sustain existing Bethel businesses while making new services more viable. 

Due to the park size and extent of improvements planned, construction will occur in several phases. The City estimates that the first phase of construction will begin in 2027 or 2028 following land use and environmental permitting. Current thinking is that phase one will focus on the north and west sides of the park, including: access improvements to Clear Lake Road, the park entry drive and limited parking, stormwater treatment facilities, habitat improvements, trail relocation and construction of a to be determined number of rectangular fields.  

Neighborhood park improvements are planned for the southeast portion of the site and will likely occur in Phase Two. 

The City highly values our natural resources and has heavily invested in habitat improvements and northwestern pond turtle habitat enhancement at Golden Gardens. The proposed design will include habitat protection and enhancement as a part of the larger park development. The intent is to establish a buffer between the natural area and the developed park amenities, and research is ongoing to understand what that buffer should look like. Our consultant team includes biologists and natural resource experts, as well as our in-house ecologists who are very familiar with and invested in natural resource values at Golden Gardens. Consultation with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is also ongoing.

A “buffer” is commonly used to describe a zone or area adjacent to or surrounding an important habitat feature such as a stream, wetland, or known wildlife breeding / nest site. While the buffer often provides valuable habitat itself, it is mainly intended to protect the integrity of the important habitat feature. Buffers may be even or irregular in shape and wider or narrower in some locations. Buffers are delineated and managed in a manner to protect and conserve the important habitat resource values and functions from adjacent land uses and/or threats, for example human development, roads, and pollution (chemical, light, noise). Study and debate on effective buffer widths are ongoing, but in summary, recommended widths are dependent on resource protection goals and site-specific conditions.*  

*Citation. ODFW. 2015. Guidance for Conserving Oregon’s Native Turtles including Best Management Practices. Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

All current recommendations are based upon best practice, which in turn is based upon the relatively limited knowledge we have of the northwestern pond turtle.  If northwestern pond turtles are listed as a threatened species, as is proposed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife will provide guidance for turtle protection at Golden Gardens Park that the City will incorporate into the Golden Gardens design. 

Turtles in the wild are sensitive to movement within their line of site as a natural adaptation to stay safe from predators. The proposed buffer will be variable in size with a goal of reducing lines of sight between developed areas and turtle habitat. Additional landscape features, such as berms and vegetative screening will be strategically placed to provide added visual barriers for turtles and other wildlife. Relocating the existing trail away from turtle nesting grounds and eliminating recreation activities on the west edge of the ponds by fencing off the natural habitat in that part of the park, represents a significant improvement that in combination with the buffers will provide turtles with the space they need to thrive. All current buffer recommendations are based upon best management practice, which in turn is based upon the relatively limited scientific data about what northwestern pond turtles need to minimize disturbance.  

Parks and Open Space is committed to preserving the existing natural resources at Golden Gardens, including the ponds and other waterways, riparian habitat and upland slopes which provide important turtle nesting habitat. Furthermore, areas of the former grass fields that are within the natural area buffers will be allowed to return to a more natural state, which will be a significant improvement over managing those areas for a monoculture of non-native grasses. Parks and Open Space ecologists have mapped native wildflower populations present on the site and, where possible, those populations will be preserved, such as in the eastern portions of the neighborhood natural area parcel. Where native wildflower populations must be impacted during development, there will be an opportunity to salvage those plants and relocate them to areas within the natural area buffers. Vegetative screening on the perimeter of the natural area buffers will be made up of native tree and shrub species that require minimal maintenance once established. These will provide appropriate habitat for native pollinators, birds, and other wildlife species.

Hundreds of games and practices are canceled each season when the rain begins, further exacerbating the accessibility and equity issues that exist because of Eugene’s limited field space. Synthetic turf fields offer the advantage of being able to host field sports throughout the year, particularly in the early spring during baseball and softball season and in the late fall when other sports are programmed such as soccer, football, and lacrosse.  

Native clay soils in our region do not drain well and hold moisture. Late fall, winter and spring play on natural grass surfaces tends to destroy the field surface as continuous wet weather and clay soils doesn’t allow fields to drain, resulting in muddy, rutted and unsafe playing surfaces. Even with regular maintenance, heavy amounts of soil amendments and drainage systems, grass fields in the Willamette valley are generally unplayable for several months of the year. 

While both surfacing types require ongoing maintenance and associated financial investment, synthetic turf fields provide more playable hours of field play on a year-round basis. 

A triple bottom line analysis (environment, people, economy) is being undertaken by the City and a 3rd party consultant, Parametrix. This work will be guided by the City’s Sustainability Commission and the public can track and provide input through this process. The analysis will consider capital and operational cost implications, environmental impacts, community safety and social equity factors as well as other important factors needed to holistically compare the use of natural grass fields as compared to synthetic turf fields. The first work session with the Sustainability Commission is scheduled for November 20. Additional information can be found at www.eugene-or.gov/38/Sustainability-Commission. 

Operations and maintenance of the new facilities are an ongoing conversation within the City, but park safety measures are actively being built into the design. The park will have a gated entrance for vehicular traffic and only be open during regularly established park hours. Park security, rules and protocols have been tested and consistently applied across all parks in Eugene’s system. This park will be no different. Adequate lighting for pedestrian safety and egress after dark are an important component for park security as are having eyes on the park. The park will also include its own staffed maintenance yard and serve as a hub for other park maintenance activities in the Bethel neighborhood.

All current access to Golden Gardens Park comes from the south and vehicles park all along Jessen Drive to access the current park amenities. In the future, all vehicle traffic related to the sports complex will come off of Clear Lake Road to avoid impacts to the neighborhood south of Golden Gardens Park. Parking areas will be located adjacent to the various amenities, further encouraging users to enter the park from the north rather than approaching from the south and requiring long distances to walk to the sports complex.  

It is expected that a traffic impact analysis will be required during the permitting phase of the project and additional transportation infrastructure may be required at that time. 

Once the neighborhood park site is developed, some improvements to Jessen Drive will be required and on-street parking may be considered. 

The Jessen multi-use path provides convenient pedestrian and bicycle access to the park site and a new bike and pedestrian only bridge will eventually offer an additional connection to the park amenities located north of A2 channel. 

Park Plans allow for a future gated connection from Terry Street to the internal park drive. This connection would only happen once Terry Street is extended to connect with Clear Lake Road.  The Terry Street extension is a project that is supported in the local Transportation Plan, but there is no current schedule for when the work will happen. 

The Eugene land use code has required setbacks to ensure compatible uses adjacent to residential areas. All required setbacks have been incorporated into the concept planning work. Upon completion of the concept Plan, the City will embark upon in depth Land Use Code permitting process that will verify and identify additional conditions as appropriate. Land use permits must be obtained prior to building permits in the City and the process will ensure that all code required conditions are met prior to the issuance of any construction permits. These conditions will include traffic studies, lighting requirements, and setbacks from residential properties.

A combination of 2006 and 2018 Park bonds as well as System Development Charge (SDC) funds have been budgeted to pay for the park’s concept planning process and the first phase of construction. Once the concept plan is finalized, the City will explore capital fundraising strategies for implementing future phases. The total budget for Golden Gardens Park Planning and Phase 1 improvements is $4.9 million. The timing of future construction phases will depend on the success of capital fundraising efforts. Funding sources could include a voter-approved bond (temporary property tax increase) and private sponsorships and donations.  

Operations and maintenance of the first phase of construction would be supported by various park operating funds. The longer-term plan is to design and operate the sports complex in such a way that it generates revenue that partially covers the park’s operation and maintenance costs.