Ceremony scheduled for park

A grand opening ceremony for Portland’s new park has been penciled in, and a local arts organization is attempting to plan events there this summer.
Members of the Portland Park Board voted Tuesday to hold the grand opening ceremony for Hudson Family Park on Saturday, May 21.
Park board president Neil Medler said this morning that details of the event are still being ironed out. He said board members would like the event to include food, entertainment and a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Arts Place would like to provide the entertainment for the ceremony, Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier said this morning.If that date doesn’t work for Arts Place, the grand opening ceremony could be held June 26, he said.
In a related matter, a plan for how to schedule, reserve and charge for events at the amphitheater is being ironed out, Medler said this morning.
Arts Place would like to hold park events in June, July and August. Arts Place executive director Eric Rogers said this morning that performances planned for the amphitheater could include country music, bluegrass music and jazz music.
Medler said board members agreed that a special meeting will be held in about two weeks to work out the details. The meeting has not yet been set, he said.
Also Tuesday, board members voted to hire The Schneider Corporation to update the city’s park system master plan.
Schneider will be paid $8,000 to create a five-year master plan for 2011-2015, Hosier said today. Schneider created the last parks master plan at the same cost. The plan expired Dec. 31, 2010.
Master plans are needed for park systems in order for communities to be eligible for grants.[[In-content Ad]]