Candlelight Park

Location: Royal Ave. & Throne Dr.

General Information
Candlelight Park, located in northwest Eugene on Royal Ave between Beltline Rd and Greenhill Rd, is one of Eugene’s larger neighborhood parks at 12 acres. In addition to sidewalks, street trees, landscaping and wheelchair access, the park includes the following features:

• a children’s play area,
• picnic tables, benches, and a drinking fountain,
• a full basketball court,
• a large informal turf field,
• walking and jogging paths,
• a sinuous open waterway (formerly a straight trapezoidal drainage ditch) planted to increase wildlife habitat, and
• a 3.5 acre fenced off-leash dog area.

History
In 1977, due to the need for more parkland in the Bethel area, the City of Eugene acquired approximately 12 acres along Royal Avenue and Candlelight Drive. No funding being available for park development, until 1991 the site was leased to a local farmer for rye grass production. Then in 1991, the City Council directed the site to be included as one of four off-leash dog parks until such time as the site could be developed as a neighborhood park.

Development of Candlelight Park was one of the items included in the 1998 Parks and Open Space Bond measure passed by Eugene citizens. The bond measure, along with Parks System Development Charges, provided full funding for development of the site.

In 2003, with adjacent lands being subdivided and developed, negotiations were finalized with the owner of an adjacent undeveloped 45-acre parcel to reconfigure the shape of the park. This was done to keep the park site in one piece, and to provide better street frontage, although the new configuration no longer lay adjacent to Candlelight Street. Once the site was reconfigured, the park development process began.

The concept plan was developed after several public workshops in 2003-04, and reflected the four major issues which came out of the workshops: improve the existing open waterway to increase wildlife habitat; maintain a dog off leash area; provide a multi-purpose open turf field; and develop a centrally located active play/gathering place. Construction began in 2006 and was completed in 2007.

For Additional Information
For more information about parks or the Park and Open Space Rules, call (541) 682-4800.

To get involved in your neighborhood, contact the Active Bethel Citizens website.