The park, which is currently unnamed, is slated to span six acres of riverside across from the Tualatin Public Library on Boones Ferry Road and plans to provide the public with increased riverfront access and a new centralized gathering place.
“We’re really looking to make sure our access into the Tualatin River is as meaningful and as engaging for all of those in our community as it possibly could be,” Tualatin Parks and Recreation Director Dustin Schull told Tualatin Life. “We have this unique opportunity to bring what is very important to the community of Tualatin and its natural spaces and river right to the doorstep of its downtown recreation opportunities.”
The access area will connect downtown Tualatin to the river, incentivizing increased water activities. Scholl said that the project would put ADA compliance at the forefront of the new area and give the city a new sense of identity.
Tualatin is continuing work on the project by clearing invasive species, restoring riparian habitat in the area and removing three houses sitting on the project site. The complete timeline for the park has not been determined.
“It’s a longer timeline project for us, so pinpointing the end of the rainbow is hard,” Scholl said.
The city used funds from the Parks and Trails Bond passed in 2022 (providing the city with $25,000,000 for park and trail improvement work) as well as $400,000 in Metro funding to purchase the six-acre property.
The entire project was estimated to cost $4 million by the city in 2023.
According to a press release put out by the city on Dec. 17, the project is set to begin its “next phase,” community engagement, once project consultants are recruited.
“Looking ahead, staff are in the process of bringing in consultants to assist with the next phase of Riverfront Park, with plans to begin community engagement in summer 2026,” reads the press release.
“We’ve got a lot of permitting work to do, a lot of feedback from the community to hear and a lot of design work to look through and think about,” Schull said. “We’re gonna get started here and just really make sure we have good and full community engagement because it’s a significant parcel of park for us.”
Schull said the project would likely start its design phase in either 2027 or 2028 and while the project is long from its design stage, according to the press release, the city has already collaborated with the University of Oregon to begin “visualizing the park.”
Graphics posted on the city website illustrate recreationalists using the park to fish, paddle board, kayak and canoe, but with the design stage still distant, the exact layout of the park is subject to reshaping.
More information will be made available as the project enters its community engagement phase in 2026.
