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Kailen Steffek, a junior at Cleveland High School, has played softball for 10 years, cycling through little league and club teams. She’s used to practicing on a field, but in high school, she sometimes takes batting practice in the locker room.
Hitting a ball in a cramped space isn’t an ideal way to practice softball, said Steffek, who’s the captain of Cleveland’s varsity team. But it’s part of the reality of playing softball there. The school only has one field for its 13 sports teams, and it doesn’t have a batting cage for baseball or softball.
Cleveland coaches, athletes and parents have ramped up pressure on Portland Public Schools to deliver a solution: installing sports turf at nearby Powell Park. But Portland Parks and Recreation and PPS have yet to deliver that answer. Advocates like Steffek say the two aren’t working together efficiently, if at all, thereby “pushing off” what should be a simple effort.
Cleveland Baseball currently plays on the field at Powell Park, which is adjacent to the school, but the softball team has to drive 2.5 miles to Woodstock Park for its practices. When it rains, both fields are unusable since they aren’t turfed; playing can damage the soil and lead to new holes and safety hazards. Cleveland’s soccer, lacrosse and football teams would also benefit from these changes.
“It affects the student athletes a lot in terms of what their goals are and where they see themselves getting to,” said Bradley Blocker, who’s coached baseball at Cleveland for six years.
Rain, which Blocker says interrupts practice on average once a week, isn’t the only problem. The fields are ill-maintained, causing all types of injuries. Students also must deal with stolen equipment and spend the beginning minutes of practice cleaning the park fields—sometimes picking up needles and other drug-related paraphernalia.
Cleveland is among the last schools due for modernization under Portland Public School’s Office of School Modernization. A field redesign is part of the Cleveland Comprehensive Plan, meaning a hitting facility will finally grace the school when construction wraps up between 2026 and 2028. But players and parents want change to come sooner.
Parents Liz Super and Megan Steffek say they, alongside other CHS community members, have found that solution in turfing Powell Park. They’ve worked together since March to push for improvements for baseball and softball. Last month, they formed the Turf Powell Park Committee, which hosted a rally on Sept. 21, protesting current conditions.
“What we’ve been trying to say is, ‘Listen, you don’t have to wait to upgrade Powell Park. It is sitting there available. It could be done immediately, if the right people, the right leadership, got in the room and agreed to that,” Megan Steffek said. “It does not need to follow the construction timelines.”
The pair have gotten in contact with a few city leaders and momentum is building, Super said. But when it comes to reaching the leaders at Portland Parks & Rec who can greenlight their efforts, frustration has begun to set in. Organizers have dealt with constant re-routing even as PPS seems supportive. PPS leaders continually direct them to staffers at the parks bureau, who bounce them back to PPS.
There isn’t continuity between the two. In an email, PPS spokeswoman Sydney Kelly told Willamette Week that PPS has “discussed the concept of redeveloping Powell Park” with PP&R leadership and staff. However, PP&R, which partners regularly with PPS on similar initiatives, says nothing is in motion.
“We haven’t received a formal request from PPS or the Cleveland High School community to install a turf field at Powell Park, but we see and appreciate the energy surrounding this idea,” PP&R spokesman Mark Ross said in an email to WW. “We welcome a conversation with PPS and the broader Cleveland High School community about possibilities for the site.”
When WW followed up about the discrepancy in responses between the district and parks, Kelly said she confirmed PPS Chief Operating Officer Dan Jung has met with PP&R and that there’s an ongoing conversation.
Players and parents feel increasingly isolated in their struggle. Right now, the Powell Park field leaves Cleveland students at a disadvantage, Blocker said, and players from other high schools regularly make fun of Cleveland’s playing facilities.
“The sad thing is, as parents, we’re kind of tired of fighting in Southeast Portland. We are just seeing hit after hit,” Super said. “We’re really hoping this project can be pushed through.”