Khunamokwst Park

Khunamokwst Park is a new park in the Cully neighborhood. As one of the most economically and racially diverse neighborhoods in Portland, the project required an approach to public involvement that was broad, innovative and inclusive. In addition to the development of a Project Advisory Committee (PAC) and open houses, outreach was extensive and included diverse stakeholders and community members. For each engagement activity, materials were bilingual, a Spanish speaker was available, and additional outreach was done to share the designs with organizations within the Latino Community.

GreenWorks provided outreach to neighborhood children and used this project as a platform for teaching them about landscape architecture, public process, and construction. We partnered with community nonprofit organizations Verde and Hacienda’s Expresiones after-school program to engage a group of 5th, 6th and 7th graders in the process. GreenWorks received the Oregon Community Trees Organizational Award for Outreach for this project’s innovative public engagement.

This 2.5-acre park represents a new era of inclusive parks and has something for everyone. Park features include a small beginners skatepark, play areas that include traditional and nature-based play elements, interpretive art, small prefabricated restrooms, accessible looped pathway with seating areas, and flexible open space. The park includes many sustainable features, including water conservation, drought-tolerant planting design, efficient irrigation design, native or native-adaptive plant material, innovative stormwater solutions, energy efficient lights, use of recycled materials, local materials from vendors, and an eco-roof picnic shelter.