New city park lamppost replacements complete; parks again lit

The startling, unannounced, and swift demolition of park lighting in February of 2023 in several Inner Southeast Portland city parks caused an uproar heard all the way to City Hall.

As reported in the April issue of THE BEE, more than thirty neighbors sounded off during an online “Light Our Parks Community Roundtable” – followed by the sending of a demand letter to the City of Portland by several Southeast neighborhood associations, including the Sellwood Moreland Improvement League (SMILE).

Officials at Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) hastened to promise restoration of lampposts and luminaires with similar-looking replacements as soon as possible. But, with “supply-chain disturbances” still taking place from the lingering pandemic, PP&R made it clear the replacement lighting wouldn’t quickly be available from manufacturers.

As we reported in the November 2023 issue of THE BEE, work had begun replacing the lampposts in Sellwood Riverfront Park – the first park to receive the replacements – a project completed last November 22, with 17 new light poles installed.

And the re-illumination of three more parks took place, in succession:

Sellwood Park light replacement finished February 14, with 27 new light polesMt. Scott Park light replacement finished March 26, with 25 new light polesWoodstock Park light replacement finished April 29, with 9 new light poles

“In some parks we installed additional lights to enhance brightness and visibility,” revealed PP&R spokesperson Mark Ross. “And in other parks, fewer lights were required, because the new ones offer better coverage than the ones that were removed.”

The new LED lights are 66% more efficient than the bulbs they’re replacing, Ross pointed out. And, the fixtures are “dark sky friendly” – that is, they’re fully shielded to prevent skyward “spill”, which would cause nighttime skyglow and obstruct astronomy.

By day or night, don’t attach anything to park light poles; it’s prohibited by Chapter 20 of the Portland City Code. (It was someone attaching a hammock to one of the old poles, which then collapsed under the strain, which originally led to the removal of the old lampposts.)

With the city parks’ light pole replacement project now complete – if you haven’t yet, take an evening stroll in one of the affected parks, with your path illuminated by these new reproductions of the former 100-year-old park lighting.