Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is Bohemia Park?

Bohemia Park is a 14-acre multi-use showcase park for community history, recreation and entertainment.

Where is Bohemia Park located?

Bohemia Park is located at the corner of 10th and Main Streets in Cottage Grove on the site of the former Oregon Pacific & Eastern (OP&E) Railroad freight car yard. It is across the street from the entryway to the 16-mile paved Row River Trail, a designated National Recreation Trail. Bohemia Park is literally the gateway to downtown Cottage Grove.

What are the park’s special features?

Once fully built, the park will feature:

  • A state-of-the-art amphitheater with family-style seating for 2,000 people;
  • Fully-equipped picnic shelters;
  • A half-mile walking trail with interpretive markers;
  • A centrally-located 3-acre pond with running streams;
  • A plaza with an interactive water feature and stone columns honoring the historic industries of the area;
  • A safe and modern playground for children;
  • Walking paths with signs outlining exercises and other activities; and
  • A 14,000-square-foot heritage museum and community center.

Why is Bohemia Park important to the Cottage Grove community?

Bohemia Park will be so much more than just a beautiful calming oasis in the center of town: It has the potential to truly revitalize the community. Bohemia Park will offer aesthetic as well as economic, environmental, and health benefits for Cottage Grove and its residents.

Economically, the park — with its proposed amphitheater and museum — is expected to attract thousands of out-of-area visitors to town, where they will spend money on lodging, dining, gifts, and other entertainment. Bohemia Park will be the largest regional venue for entertainment for surrounding small communities located between Roseburg and Eugene. The park will draw developers, investors and retailers to the Cottage Grove area.

On the environmental front, transforming the former weedy graveled railway yard into a lush green park with a variety of trees and plantings will enhance air quality. In addition to providing a place for quiet reflection, the park’s nearly 3-acre pond and bio-swale system will be used as a catch basin for the site’s storm water runoff. Filtered pond water will be used to irrigate the park’s trees, shrubs and grasses, not only saving the City from supplying the park with hundreds of gallons of treated water each year, but also significantly reducing the amount the City currently discharges into the Willamette River.

Paved and well-lit paths meandering throughout the park will provide a safe thoroughfare for cyclists, joggers and pedestrians as they make their way from nearby neighborhoods to downtown or to the Row River Trail in pursuit of fresh air and exercise.

How much will it cost to build Bohemia Park?

The total cost to develop Bohemia Park is $10.5 million. It will be completed in four strategically designed phases over the next five years, so that each works as a stand-alone piece of the whole. The phases are:

  • Property acquisition and clean-up — $1.9 million;
  • Phase I construction — $2.2 million;
  • Phase II construction — $2.9 million; and
  • Phase III construction — $3.4 million.

What’s the status of fundraising for Bohemia Park?

To date, about $4 million in monetary and in in-kind donations have been pledged or collected from a variety of sources including foundations, businesses, individuals and the City of Cottage Grove and the South Lane School District.

Who is in charge of developing Bohemia Park?

The City of Cottage Grove is working closely with Bohemia Foundation, which is managing and coordinating the construction of Bohemia Park in order to ensure a timely completion.

What’s the status of the park development?

The property for the park was acquired and cleaned up over the past few years. Currently the park is being formed and will, by the summer of 2009, feature restrooms, landscaping, lighting and pathways. In the second phase of construction, the plaza, playgrounds, pond and amphitheater will be built. The third and final phase of construction comprises the heritage museum.

When will the park be open for use?

Bohemia Park is expected to be open for use by the public by early summer 2009.

Who will own Bohemia Park once it’s complete?

The short answer is Bohemia Park belongs to the community.

The complicated answer is that while the property officially belongs to the Bohemia Foundation, the City of Cottage Grove has a recreation conservation easement granting it recreational rights to the property forever. In other words, the property is to be used exclusively as a public park.

Who will operate Bohemia Park once it’s complete?

The City of Cottage Grove, which already has a system for managing other amenities, will operate Bohemia Park’s amphitheatre and museum. The Bohemia Foundation will financially assist the City in providing security and maintenance for the park in order to ensure that the park is an asset rather than a liability should the City face financial constraints.

Will there be a charge to use the park? What about the amphitheater?

Bohemia Park is a public park and there is no charge to use it. There will likely be gate charges to attend an event at the amphitheater and a fee to visit the museum.

What types of trees and plants will be installed on the site?

Mayer/Reed, a Portland-based firm that has designed several parks and recreation projects around the state, is the principal architect of Bohemia Park. Mayer/Reed designed the park to be a showcase site that doesn’t require extensive and costly maintenance and upkeep. The park landscaping will complement the surrounding neighborhood, as well as be functional in providing shade for users, and screening from the adjacent railway line. A variety of native trees and plants will be installed in the park.

What is Bohemia Foundation and why is it so heavily involved in this project?

The Bohemia Foundation was formed in 1966 by Bohemia Lumber Co. with the mission of providing college scholarships. From its inception through 1994, Bohemia Foundation awarded more than 500 scholarships to company employees or their children.

After Willamette Industries purchased Bohemia Lumber Co. in 1991, Bohemia Foundation remained in operation as an independent entity steered by a board with close connections to the former company. The Foundation changed its focus toward L.L “Stub” Stewart’s vision of capturing, commemorating and honoring the history of the community and region where he had grown up and where Bohemia operated. The history was celebrated in the book, “Bohemia.” In the mid-1990s, as the book was under way, the Foundation committed itself to realizing Stewart’s vision: Creating a landmark community park that would commemorate the history and traditions of the Cottage Grove area.

In 2000, the Foundation acquired the 14-acre former OP&E Railroad property as the site for Bohemia Park.

Although Stewart passed away in 2005, Bohemia Foundation has carried the project forward by raising funds and forging critical partnerships in order to build Bohemia Park.

Are there ways to get involved with the park project?

There are many ways to get involved with the park project, including:

  • Making a donation of materials, cash or in-kind services;
  • Assisting with fundraising; or
  • Volunteering with the Bohemia Park Association.

For more information or to get involved, email: