An open house planned in advance of the recently-funded Balm Grove Dam removal project will be held onsite at Balm Grove in Gales Creek Thursday, June 9 from 4 to 6:30 p.m.
Hosted by the Tualatin River Watershed Council and Clean Water Services, which owns the property, information on the dam’s removal slated to begin this summer will be on hand.
As part of the open house, an email from TRWC Scott McEwen promised information about construction activities, channel restoration, and floodplain enhancements at the site.
“Please dress for the weather and for walking on uneven surfaces outdoors,” McEwen said.
Snacks and short tours will be provided. No formal program is expected, a spokesperson for Clean Water Services told this newspaper in an email.
The open house is a rare opportunity for community residents to once again (legally) walk the grounds of a once-popular picnic area, tavern, and swimming hole. Nowadays, “no trespassing” signs and concrete barriers discourage would-be visitors, along with public outreach campaigns aiming to keep those who would continue a century of public access from traipsing on the government-owned property.
“We know that historically this has been a popular gathering place in the community. However, the fish passage barrier poses a threat to anyone who trespasses on the site,” an email from the regional water agency read in 2021.
The dam at Balm Grove is a historic feature of the Balm Grove neighborhood of the Gales Creek area, and for somewhere in the vicinity of a century—a firm date of the dam’s construction remains elusive—it was part of a site that hosted a tavern, dance hall, and park known as Balm Grove.
Those with questions about the open house were asked to contact Clean Water Services’ Shannon Huggins by email ([email protected]) or call 503-681-3600.
Balm Grove is located in the Balm Grove neighborhood north of downtown Gales Creek at 10660 NW Balm Grove Loop.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
