Tiny move, big worries for Saturday Market
Thursday, May 24, 2007
By Fred Leeson
The Oregonian
Saturday Market survived one move of 300 feet early in its 33-year history as a Portland shopping institution.
The question now is whether the critical mass of artisan/vendors can survive an even shorter one. Alas, what sounds so simple is not.
"In retail, every extra step is a problem for people," says Sandra Burtzos, Portland Bureau of Parks & Recreation project manager, especially when the steps involve crossing a four-lane arterial called Naito Parkway.
Burtzos is helping shepherd planning for improvements to Ankeny Plaza and a section of Tom McCall Waterfront Park that will become the market's new home next March. At stake is the viability of a tourist/shopping magnet composed of as many as 300 vendors of handmade goods.
A design team led by Walker Macy landscape architects has proposed three options for the market site and immediate vicinity. A citizen advisory committee working with the Parks Bureau, and the Portland Development Commission will pick a design by late June.
"At this point, they are all too small," says Paul Verhoeven, Saturday Market's manager, referring to the proposed sites. "There are not enough vendor spaces." He'd like to see room for 275 to 300 booths, but the options so far range from 209 to 268.
A few dozen booths would sit on Ankeny Plaza, the small public space behind Skidmore Fountain. But in all three options, most booths would sit on a horizontal platform erected to smooth out undulations in Waterfront Park immediately south of the Burnside Bridge.
The platform would be at grade under the bridge but would rise 4 feet above the park floor near the Ankeny Pump Station. All three plans include a water feature, something akin to Salmon Street Springs at the south end of the park that could be turned off and leave a flat surface when needed for big events such as Cinco de Mayo or the Rose Festival.
Anne Naito-Campbell, a principal in the Bill Naito Co., a significant property owner in the area, is trying to raise $1 million in donations for the fountain. She envisions "a really stupendous, dynamic water feature that will draw people 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."
Proposals for rain shelter over the market platform include a solid roof, one with an airy slit down the middle and one that would open and close in some fashion. Architect Bob Thompson says the difficulty with a movable roof is finding a reliable mechanism that is inexpensive to maintain. Planners fear that a roof would attract homeless sleepers.
Another concept would flood the platform when not in use to make a shallow reflecting pool.
Besides rain protection, unresolved issues affecting the market include storage space and public toilets. Creating a pedestrian-friendly crossing for Naito Parkway also is a major design factor. Verhoeven says about 30 percent of market customers arrive by MAX at the Skidmore Fountain station, and the market will wither if shoppers find the crossing daunting.
Market artisans may be asked to improve their portable booths when the new location opens next year. Burtzos says she'd like to keep the market's funky feel but upgrade its image.
Verhoeven says promotional efforts next year will aim to tell the public about the new location rather than move the market upscale.
"We want to keep it so vendors can individually express their businesses," he says, "but somehow tie it in to the new site."
Portland News: 503-221-8199;
portland@news.oregonian.com
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