Frazer Park Community Garden (2010)
Address: NE 52nd & NE Hassalo Street
Date of site approval: 2010
Acreage: 3.9
Zoning: open space
This large paved area was previously the site of a detention facility before it was acquired by the City of Portland's Parks and Recreation department (PP&R). Wanting to dedicate a western portion of the park for a new community garden, PP&R contacted the Brownfield Program to help determine in the site was safe for growing food. The Brownfield Program funded the Phase I and the II Environmental Site Assessments that revealed elevated lead levels in the surface soil from a long-gone building. A remediation plan was developed for removing the contaminated soils.
With the help of local nonprofit Depave, volunteers spent two days removing the concrete pad that covered the site. Then PP&R removed the contaminated soil from the garden area, leaving a clean plot ready for growing. The Frazer Park Community Garden opened in the spring of 2012, offering eighteen new gardening plots to the community.