Park Maintenance Facility - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The City of Corvallis broke ground in June 2026 on a new Park Maintenance Facility in Avery Park for the Parks & Recreation Department. The project is the latest in a series of planned improvements for City facilities that support community services in Corvallis.

Read on to learn more about the origin of the project and the timeline to get it built.

What’s a Park Maintenance Facility? What sort of work goes on there?

The City of Corvallis Parks & Recreation Department is based in Avery Park. The Park Maintenance Facility is used as the home base for the staff, equipment, and supplies used to keep City parks operational, safe, and well-maintained. The existing buildings include office space, truck and tractor parking, supplies and materials storage, indoor and outdoor shop space and temporary property storage.

A total of 35 staff work at the Park Maintenance Facility. Due to space constraints, about one third of those staff are assigned to other locations (including a temporary trailer parked on-site).

What’s the condition of the existing facility at Avery Park?

The existing Park Maintenance Facility includes several sheds and other temporary structures that were slowly assembled over many years based on the expanding operational needs of the Parks & Recreation Department. Portions of the current facility date back to the 1930s. Most buildings lack adequate electricity, ventilation, and HVAC capacity. Outdoor storage is insufficient for the current fleet of P&R trucks, tractors, mowers, excavators and trailers. The entire site is located in the Marys River flood plain.

What will the new Park Maintenance Facility have in it?

The new Park Maintenance Facility will be a pair of modern, energy-efficient buildings totaling 34,567 square feet. The purpose-built facility will include adequate room for staff work areas and indoor workshops. High-value equipment (tractors, trucks and trailers) will be stored safely in enclosed, covered storage areas. The site sees plenty of vehicular traffic throughout the day, and those operations will be made safer with improved circulation into, out of, and through the site. We’re planning to install solar panels on the roof to generate on-site electricity for building operations. Future staff needs can be accommodated through expansion, if needed.

When did the City decide to build a new Park Maintenance Facility?

The City Council has been working for years to make improvements to the facilities that are used to deliver community services to the public. Decades of under-investment in these facilities have resulted in buildings and public spaces that are increasingly undersized, outmoded, and at the end of their service life. 

In 2022, the City worked with an architectural consultant to create the Citywide Facilities Strategy, which outlined the scope of needed improvements and recommended solutions. The Park Maintenance Facility was one of the first facility projects on the list.

In 2024, the City Council authorized construction of the Park Maintenance Facility. Design work continued in 2025, and groundbreaking took place in June 2026.

It seems like there is a long list of public facilities that need improvements. How was the Park Maintenance Facility selected?

When we looked at all of our public facilities across the city, the Park Maintenance Facility ranked at the very bottom in terms of its age, building condition, and overall effectiveness for city operations. This put it at the top of the list when it came time to move forward on needed improvements. We’re excited to modernize this important facility, which is used to support park and natural area maintenance operations across the entire City!

How much will this project cost?

The project budget is $35 million. The City already owned the land where the facility is being constructed.

Who’s leading this project?

The project architect is FFA Architecture. The general contractor is Andersen Construction. The City’s project manager is Greg Gescher.

How long will it take to construct the new Park Maintenance Facility?

We’re planning a construction timeline of about 16 months. Staff will work out of the existing maintenance facility until the new one is complete, then we’ll move all of our equipment and supplies and vehicles over to the new site.

What will happen to the old maintenance site in Avery Park?

After the new maintenance facility is up and running, we’ll demolish the buildings and do some restoration of the original site to return it to a more natural state. As part of this work, we’ll plant native trees on the site, including Oregon white oaks.

What’s next for the citywide facilities project?

The City is making progress on needed facility improvements that were identified in a comprehensive analysis in 2022. We’ve remodeled two fire stations, and now we’re moving forward on the Park Maintenance Facility. Starting in 2024, we carried out a series of public engagement activities to support the next two projects on our list: the Civic Campus and the Police Station, both located downtown. Planning for improvements at these two key facilities also coincided with a renewed focus by the City Council on downtown vitality. With new investment on the horizon for downtown Corvallis, the timing is right to invest in community services in our downtown area by making improvements to the Civic Campus and the Police Station.

In the years to come, we’ll continue working toward improving facilities in Corvallis, including Fire Station 1 (located downtown on Harrison), Fire Station 4 (in South Corvallis), the Public Works campus, and other important buildings that support community services.

You can read more about the citywide facilities project at www.corvallisoregon.gov/facilities.