Couch Park is a city park in Portland, Oregon, located at the intersection of Northwest 19th Avenue and Glisan Street.[2] Named after merchant John H. Couch, the park was acquired in 1977.
Couch Park was named after Captain John Heard Couch, who sailed from Newburyport, Massachusetts for Portland in 1839. Couch owned and developed land from the Willamette River to what is now Northwest 23rd Avenue and from Burnside north for one mile. Blocks were named alphabetically as the land was developed, forming today's Alphabet District. The site of Couch Park was once the estate of 19th-century merchant Cicero Hunt Lewis, the husband of Couch's daughter Clementine.[2][3] The estate included a mansion, stables and a greenhouse, each constructed in 1881. The Multnomah County School District (now Portland Public Schools) acquired the property in 1913 following demolition and constructed a school bearing Couch's name, replacing the first building built in 1882 at Northwest 17th and Kearney. Land that is now Couch Park was then the school's playground.[2]
Captain John Brown's house, constructed in 1890, was moved to one corner of the site in 1970 to spare demolition. Residents donated money to convert the house into a community center for senior citizens as well as medical services. However, the project was abandoned when funding received was less than required. In 1973 the heavily vandalized building was demolished.[2]
Couch School's name was changed to the Metropolitan Learning Center (MLC) in 1974. This left only the park with Couch's name. Planning and construction for the park, including its play structure, began in 1975, a process which included MLC students and neighboring residents. Three art installations were erected in 1976; these included a steel sculpture by David Cotter, tile mosaics by Jere Grimm and carved wood pillars which support the playground by Brent Jenkins, Eric Jensen and William Moore. Only the steel sculpture still exists. The park was officially turned over to Portland Parks & Recreation management in 1977, although the park, with the exception of the pedestrian mall, is still owned by Portland Public Schools.[2]
It wasn't until 2019 that the playground was replaced by a new inclusive playground. Like the wooden one, input from MLC students was taken into account. As part of the playground additions, the pedestrian mall was replaced with concrete and a Portland Loo was added to supplement the current restroom.
Features
Playground
The park's pedestrian mall and restrooms before the renovations. The grass hill was removed in 2010 and the bricks were replaced with concrete in 2019
The former wooden playground which was removed in 2014 and replaced in 2019
The park's inclusive playground was built in 2019, replacing a large wooden structure that was removed in 2014 due to termite rot. That playground was replaced by an empty plot of barkchips and 6 boulders until the new playground was erected.[4] The new playground opened on May 4th, 2019 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by city commissioners Nick Fish and Amanda Fritz.[5][6] As part of the playground additions, the pedestrian mall was replaced with concrete and a Portland Loo was added to supplement the current restroom.
A fence was built around the playground in 2010 thanks to funds provided by The Opus Foundation as well as a voter-approved 2002 levy.[7][8]
The new playground is smaller than the older one. It features a small raised play structure, a short slide, a small jungle gym, monkey bars, and a single infant swing. The playground also has rocks to climb on, a decorative teepee, and new benches.
Dog park
The park features an un-fenced off-leash dog park. The dog park area is used for concerts in the summer.[2][7]
Couch Park was included in the book A Bark in the Park: The 45 Best Places to Hike with Your Dog in the Portland, Oregon Region (2005).[9]
Seating areas
The park features two main seating areas. The one in the east end of the park features four extra-long park benches. It is a frequent gathering place for homeless individuals. The west end seating area is part of the pedestrian mall and contains four park benches. All the picnic tables were removed from the park during the 2019 updates.
The park also features multiple field areas which are commonly used for picnics and sunbathing.
Trees
As of 2010 more than one hundred trees representing dozens of tree types exist in the park, including birch, cedar, elm, fir, maple, pine, various fruit trees and others. European white birch and English are the most abundant species in the park.[10]
The park contains a steel sculpture of an abstract spider that was sculpted by David Cotter and installed in 1976 and tile mosaics along the pedestrian mall created by Jere Grimm.
The park also contains a memorial plaque honoring Captain John H. Couch, for whom the park was named. It was installed in 1993 by the Auld Lange Society, a local civic group who installs plaques on historic figures and events.
The park formerly featured carved wood pillars, which supported the playground, carved by Brent Jenkins, Eric Jensen and William Moore which were removed around 2003.
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