Oregon Public Broadcasting

Parking meters will be installed in a Portland city park this summer as a way to pay for maintenance and park operations.  Pete Springer reports. 

Willamette Park in southwest Portland will begin charging for parking year round.

The park will have pay stations like the ones downtown --they cost $7500 each. 

The fee will be $1 an hour for cars.  Fines for non-compliance have not yet been determined.

Terri Davis is with Portland Parks and Recreation.  She says the fees will help pay to replace damaged curbs in the park.

Terri Davis “It also would go towards maintenance of the road itself and the parking lot repaving, restriping, management of the docks and the waterway, garbage clean-up, all of those things.”

Davis says the city currently pays $30,000 a year to private security guards who collect parking fees at the park only during the summer months. 

Portland Parks and Rec is facing a five-percent budget cut for the next year.

But Davis says there are no plans to install meters at other parks.