Mt Tabor Park & Reservoirs History: From Potable Water to Historic Treasure
You may thank your Mt Tabor Neighborhood Association (MTNA) Board members, Friends of Mt Tabor Park, and other Mt Tabor Park supporters and volunteers from around the Portland metro area for the continued existence of our simple yet glorious reservoir pools, especially the stunning views from above Reservoir 6, which runs along SE 60th Ave.
History: Way back in the mists of time (circa 2014):
Excerpt:
“.... In 2014, when the Portland Water Bureau revealed its plans for disconnecting the Mt. Tabor Reservoirs from the drinking water system, citizens discovered the bureau intended to block all water sources to the reservoirs, leaving them forever as giant, empty, scars in the middle of Mt. Tabor Park. And unlike at Washington Park, Water Bureau engineers hadn’t set aside any money, or made any plans, for how to repair Mt. Tabor Park after disconnect construction. Volunteers with MTNA mobilized to force the city to come up with a reasonable plan that recognized the reality that the historic reservoirs, and their iconic deep-water views, are central to Mt. Tabor Park. That is why the reservoirs on Tabor have water in them today. Yay for engaged citizens, and the home they find in the Neighborhood Association system!”
Source: Visit the Who We Are and What We Do pages on our neighborhood website (MTNA), where you can read about how your neighbors and neighborhood association saved the Mt Tabor Reservoirs for all Mt Tabor Park visitors to enjoy.
You can also thank neighbors and our MTNA Board members for preventing the City in 2018 from selling off Mt Tabor Park land. Some of you may remember when we filled the meeting room to let City Commissioner Fritz know that she should terminate the process the City Commissioners started that would have enabled them to sell off that park land (at the Salmon St entrance). Advocacy works!
You can find articles about the averted park land sell-off by searching online, e.g. using these keywords: mt tabor park commissioner fritz sell land.
Read more about the history of Mt Tabor Park at the MTNA website and the Friends of Mt Tabor Park website.
Note from Laura: For some reason, WIX (our website and blogging platform) does not show the blog post publication date (unless you peer at the URL). This seems to be a thing or trend with website and blog designers and content creators, i.e. not telling readers when the site's pages or posts were updated or published, but it's very annoying so: this blog post was published on 1/16/22, updated 2/6/22.
