Deering Oaks

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, an 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 from 2007–2009 and work began in 2010.[5] 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, not glass, to eliminate vandalism.[6]

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. The structure had hosted unattended public bathrooms for the previous 50 years. Friends of Deering Oaks,[7] a community organization supporting the park, funded the $675,000 project.[4]

Early 20th century postcard

In 1996 Deering Oaks Pond served as the backdrop for an ice skating scene in the film "The Preacher's Wife" starring Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington. A Portland resident wrote that the Associated Press had reported at the time that 150 crew members cordoned off a portion of the park from the public for four days, and about 140 local people were plucked from an auditioning crowd of 6,000 to play extras in the scene—doing things in the background to make it look like a typical urban Christmas in a park: skating, walking, snowball fights, etc.

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, and to prevent structural damage.[8] Construction has begun on lining the bottom of the pond with cement. By covering the wetland soils this pond will no longer be spring fed; it will not sustain plant life and the ducks who live here will need to rely heavily on food from humans to survive, as their natural food supply will be cut off. It is not known whether cattails and other breeding habitat components will be restored as part of this project.

The Ravine is a children's pool and splash area adjacent to the pond. When the park was first established, the Ravine had a spring-fed stream running through it. But in the 1930s, the spring was affected by nearby development resulting in the Portland Water District piping in water to run through the Ravine into the pond. In the 1950s, the pool was declared a public health hazard and filled in. In the 21st century, the Ravine was rebuilt as a shallow, granite-edged pool, a splash pad, and a reflecting pool sculpture with a ring of carved stones created by artist Carole Hanson called The Circle of Life.[9]