This Juneteenth holiday weekend Portland is expected to have sunny days and high temperatures. Many people will likely be looking for ways to cool off, including by taking a swim.

For those choosing to plunge into the Willamette River this weekend, they have one man to thank: Willie Levenson.

Levenson is the founder, executive director and ringleader for the Human Access Project, the advocacy organization with the goal to change Portland’s relationship with its river.

Levenson has been with the organization since its inception in 2010. He’s pushed for urban beaches and swimming docks, held community events, and more. After almost two decades, Levenson is set to retire at the end of the month. He joined OPB’s “Think Out Loud” to discuss his accomplishments, departure and the future of the organization as he steps down.

Responses have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Proudest moments

“There’s no better feeling for me than to go to any of these places that we’ve helped shape on the water’s edge and see people loving it. That’s really just very powerful for me. When I started the work, I just imagined one day that people would never be able to remember when you didn’t swim in the river.

“When people see that the river is an asset with value for them personally, then suddenly they treat it differently. We spearheaded the first public beach in 100 years, Poets Beach. In 2022, we worked with [Portland] Parks and Recreation to designate six swimming areas on the Willamette, we removed 150 tons of concrete, 300 derelict piles and raised $1.2 million to replace the Cathedral Park dock.

“Duckworth Dock, that’s become an iconic swimming place in Portland. It took us six years of work to get permission to add eight swim ladders that took less than four hours to install. That is the grind of bureaucracy, but now we have this world-class swim dock.”

Work ahead for the organization

“From here, all of these places that we’ve started, it’s gonna be an opportunity to build them out even more. And as far as we’ve come with our culture change work, we’re nowhere near our ceiling in terms of our reach and being able to connect more people with the river.”

On retirement

“I’m looking forward to being an observer and not being the adult in the room. I’d say the hardest thing about choosing to leave is I still do want to make myself available to people who are trying to do good and just kind of take these skills that I’ve learned to navigate bureaucracy and help people do what they want quicker, and be smarter with their time. I hope I have a chance to mentor some people and pass this knowledge that I’ve developed.

The first Splashdown of the season will be on June 26 at Audrey McCall Beach, celebrating the city’s growing river recreation culture.

Willie Levenson spoke to “Think Out Loud” guest host Jenn Chávez. You can listen to the full conversation here.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/06/20/willie-levenson-human-access-willamette-river/