Deering Oaks
Encyclopedia
Deering Oaks is a 55 acres (22.3 ha) public park in Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

, which has a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 diamond, tennis courts, a playground, and a pond. It is located west of downtown Portland and is bordered by Deering Avenue on the west, Forest Avenue on the east, Park Avenue to the south and Interstate 295
Interstate 295 (Maine)
Interstate 295 is a -long connector in the U.S. state of Maine from I-95 in Scarborough to I-95 in West Gardiner.-Route description:...

 to the north. State Street bisects the park. Access is from State Street, Deering Avenue, or Park Avenue. The Portland Farmers Market
Portland Farmers Market (Maine)
The Portland Farmers Market is a farmers market in Portland, Maine, U.S. Located in Deering Oaks, the market was named one of the ten best farmers markets in the United States by Travel + Leisure magazine in May 2010. It is known for organic agricultural products as well as its community...

 is located on the Park Avenue side of the park.

Battle of Deering Oaks

The area was the site of a September 1689 battle between the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

.
The City of Portland largely acquired the land from the Deering, Preble, and Fessenden families in 1879 as part of the rebuilding following the devastating 1866 fire. Deering Oaks Pond at one time filled and drained with the ocean tides; it was naturally connected to Back Cove
Back Cove
- Canada :* Back Cove, Burgeo, Newfoundland and Labrador* Back Cove, Fogo, Newfoundland and Labrador* Back Cove, hamlet, Newfoundland and Labrador* Back Cove, St. Barbe, Newfoundland and Labrador...

 until altered to suit roadways in the late 19th century. Deering Oaks also hosts the city's monument to the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

. During the winter, one can ice skate on the frozen pond, and until the late 1990s, paddle boats could be rented during the summer season to explore the confines of the pond and enjoy the scenery.

In 2010, Deering Oaks hosted a rally calling for the repeal of the "Don't ask, don't tell
Don't ask, don't tell
"Don't ask, don't tell" was the official United States policy on homosexuals serving in the military from December 21, 1993 to September 20, 2011. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while...

" military policy; performer Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...

 among others spoke and the rally drew approximately 2,000 people.

Improvements

In 1994, the Portland City Council unanimously approved the Deering Oaks Master Plan for improving the park. The plan called for the closing of State Street where it bisects the park and the restoration of the original entrance at State St. and Park Avenue. As of 2004, the city had spent $3 million over 10 years on the park, including the building of a children's wading pool, the conversion of the Bowling Green Road to a pedestrian walkway and improvements to the sports facilities, including the tennis courts.

Bridge over Deering Oaks Ravine

An arched footbridge, measuring 40 feet in length, was built in 1911 spanning the Deering Oaks ravine. It cost the city $3,355. Portland also built 8-foot tall lamps on both sides of the bridge made of glass. It replaced a wooden bridge. In 2007, a engineering firm commissioned by the city estimated that cleaning, coating and repairing the bridge would cost $216,000. Funds were set aside from the capital improvement budget
Capital budgeting
Capital budgeting is the planning process used to determine whether an organization's long term investments such as new machinery, replacement machinery, new plants, new products, and research development projects are worth pursuing...

 from 2007-2009 and work began in 2010. Along with other improvements, the city planned to install decorative cast-iron street lamps similar to the original lamps in the park. The new lights were expected to be made of polycarbonate
Polycarbonate
PolycarbonatePhysical PropertiesDensity 1.20–1.22 g/cm3Abbe number 34.0Refractive index 1.584–1.586FlammabilityV0-V2Limiting oxygen index25–27%Water absorption – Equilibrium0.16–0.35%Water absorption – over 24 hours0.1%...

, not glass, to eliminate vandalism.

Castle-in-the-Park

Deering Oak's Castle-in-the-Park was built in 1894 as a warming hut for ice skaters and is located next to the pond on the State Street side of the park. In 2004, work was done to restore the structure to its original Victorian style
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

. The structure had hosted unattended public bathrooms for the previous 50 years. Friends of Deering Oaks, a community organization supporting the park, funded the $675,000 project.

Deering Oaks Pond

In 2010, Portland received a federal grant worth $1.2 million to line the bottom of Deering Oaks Pond, with a local match of $540,000. The project was designed to promote water quality, which was harmed by algae blooms in the summer due to organic material settling on the bottom of the pond as well as prevent structural damage.

External links

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