Shute Park is a

municipal park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and other incorpora ...

in the city of Hillsboro,

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Acquired in 1906, the park is the oldest park in the city. Located at southeast Tenth and Maple streets along

Tualatin Valley Highway The Tualatin Valley Highway No. 29 (see Oregon highways and routes) is an Oregon highway which passes through the Tualatin Valley, between the cities of McMinnville and Beaverton. Between McMinnville and Forest Grove, the highway is signed ...

, Shute Park includes an aquatic center, a branch of the

Hillsboro Public Library The Hillsboro Public Library is a two-location public library system in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. First opened in 1914 in a Carnegie library building, the system provides services to a population area of 137,000 people. As of 2015, the sy ...

, and a community center. The park once had a pavilion that contained a roller skating rink, and was the center of civic activities before the opening of the Washington County Fairgrounds. Named for businessman

John W. Shute John Wright Shute (February 17, 1840 – March 19, 1922) was an American banker in the state of Oregon. He was the founder of the first bank in Washington County, Oregon, and both Shute Park and Shute Road in Hillsboro, Oregon, are his namesak ...

, the park at one time included land on the east side of the highway that consisted mainly of a baseball field.

History

On December 21, 1906, the City of Hillsboro purchased a tract of land from banker

for $1,622, with the condition that the land be used as a park and named in his honor. The city passed a levy to finance the purchase of its first park at 1.8 mills per assessed valuation. At the time, the total assessed value in the city was just over $600,000."Park site sold to city by banker Shute in ‘06", ''

Hillsboro Argus ''The Hillsboro Argus'' was a twice-weekly newspaper in the city of Hillsboro, Oregon, from 1894 to 2017, known as the ''Washington County Argus'' for its final year. The ''Argus'' was distributed in Washington County, Oregon, United States. First ...

'', October 19, 1976. The land had previously been the site of a

brickyard A brickyard or brickfield is a place or Yard (land), yard where bricks are made, pottery firing, fired, and stored, or sometimes Commerce, sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed ...

, whose brick had been used in the construction of several buildings in downtown Hillsboro. In June 1920, voters approved a levy to finance the construction of a pavilion at the park. Finished in June 1921, the building was designed and built without posts in the floor and included a stage. At first, the pavilion was used mainly for dances, but was later used as a

roller skating Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreation, recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on s ...

rink. It also was home to an infantry unit and later artillery unit, and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was used for drill by the national guard. Over time, the building eventually no longer met building codes, but the city felt the costs were too much to remodel the facility so the pavilion was torn down in 1974. Beginning in 1925 and until 1951, the Washington County Fair was held at the park. During that time, the park contained additional structures, including a poultry building. In 1935, workers from the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

improved the park. Enhancements included extensive landscaping, the addition of a baseball diamond, construction of a stone-arch bridge, a creek, and the addition of lighting. The improved park was dedicated on July 2, 1936. Hillsboro's Happy Days festival was also previously staged at Shute Park. The pavilion at Shute could seat as many as 1,500 and was used for events that included a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

. In 1962, the county's historical society looked at the park as a possible home for their museum, which was not built at that time or at that location. However, the society temporarily moved their museum to the park's pavilion that year. The city decided to re-zone a section of the park in 1972. The section was located across Tualatin Valley Highway and contained a baseball field. Hillsboro High School had used the ball field for its home baseball games until

Hare Field Hare Field is a multi-sport facility located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The facility opened in 1965 and is owned by the Hillsboro School District. Hare Field includes a baseball stadium, a football stadium, practice fields, and track ...

opened in 1965. The parks department wanted to sell off the land in order to pay for improvements at other park facilities in the city. Hillsboro's city council elected to re-zone the parcel as commercial in order to maximize the value of the land. The city's parks commission approved plans to build the permanent stage in the park in September 1982 using private funds. In 1987, the

Peter Wolf Toth Peter Wolf Toth (born December 1947) is an American sculptor. Born in Hungary, Toth immigrated to the United States and settled in Akron, Ohio. He later studied art at Ohio University. He created a series of sculptures called ''Trail of the Whis ...

statue, '' Chief Kno-Tah'', was added along the eastern side of the park. It is one of 74 such statues collectively known as the

Trail of the Whispering Giants The ''Trail of the Whispering Giants'' is a collection of sculptures by American artist Peter Wolf Toth. The sculptures range in height from , and are between in diameter. In 2009, there were 74 ''Whispering Giants'', with at least one in each o ...

. In 2006, the city celebrated the 100th anniversary of the park that included people in period dress and a performance by th
Oregon Symphonic Band
Many of the

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

trees at the park were found to have schweinitzii

butt rot Butt rot is a disease of plants, mostly trees, caused by fungus, fungi. The fungus attacks the moist, poorly protected undersurface of a tree trunk's thickest part (the "butt" above the root, as opposed to "top"), where the end of the plant stem, ...

and red ring rot in 2008. In May 2009, the city began removing those diseased trees that posed a danger to park visitors as the trees slowly died. Additional trees were removed in 2013 as part of the renovations to the library.

Facilities

Located at 10th and Maple streets, the park contains a variety of amenities. These include a picnic shelter, softball field, restrooms, picnic areas, playground equipment, and a stage. Also at the park is a branch of the Hillsboro library, a senior community center, and an aquatic recreation center. From 1987 to 2017, it also hosted the '' Chief Kno-Tah'' wood sculpture of a Native American head carved by

as part of his ''Trail of the Whispering Giants''. The Shute Park Aquatic and Recreation Center opened in 1981. The indoor and outdoor pool facility also contained indoor exercise areas and racquetball courts. Beginning in 2004 it was remodeled and re-opened in 2006. Additions to the facility included a massage room, child care area, a spa pool, a pool slide, and a play feature in one of the pools. Shute Park also hosts the annual Showtime at Shute free summer

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

series. These outdoor concerts are held each Thursday beginning in July, and run through August.Showtime at Shute.
Hillsboro Community Arts. Retrieved on February 25, 2008.

References

External links

* {{Hillsboro Oregon 1906 establishments in Oregon Parks in Hillsboro, Oregon Protected areas established in 1906 Works Progress Administration in Oregon

History

Facilities

See also

References

External links