EUGENE, Ore. (KMTR) -- Months after Occupy Eugene moved out, Eugene's Washington / Jefferson Park is springing back to life and city crews say it won't be long before the park opens back up to the public again.
Eugene Parks and Open Space says it will have a private contractor begin on-the-ground work to repair the park in the next couple of weeks, or the beginning of June 2012.
The park has been closed to the public since late December 2011 after Occupy Eugene was ordered to move out. When the group left, the park was mostly mud, bark chips and leaves.
Five months later, much of the grass has grown back with only a few patches of dirt remaining.
Eugene Parks crews say Occupy Eugene did a pretty good job cleaning the park up, but some removal work remains.
“Mostly picking up debris that was left from Occupy; wood chips, leaf piles, then we're going to go in and aerify, relieve any soil compaction that happened, and pretty much overseed, fertilize and then let Mother Nature take over from there,” said Rob Hallet, Eugene Parks and Open Space Operations Supervisor.
Crews will also have to remove a papa-san chair that was lodged in a tree the day Occupy Eugene was evicted.
Leveling or grading work will also take place, along with removal of weed barrier fabric that was used as the base for wood chip pathways.
Eugene Parks and Open Space is hoping that contractors will finish up the work and remove the fence by July 1st, 2012.
Eugene Parks told NewsSource 16 that the March 2012 snowstorm and the backlog of work it caused is the reason the agency is having a private contractor do the work.
Repair costs are estimated around $5,000.
