Couldn't find the PB5 thread?
New plaza will have glass but not grass
Park Block - Planners have finally settled on a design for the area covering an underground garage
Monday, November 19, 2007
FRED LEESON
The Oregonian
After nearly a decade of dreams and 15 months of intensive design work, a new downtown Park Block finally verges on construction.
The Portland Bureau of Parks & Recreation has earned final approval and plans to begin construction in January on a new urban plaza bounded by Southwest Yamhill and Taylor streets between Park and Ninth avenues.
Key elements of the final design include a tiny restaurant, a glass canopy, a drainable water feature/amphitheater, granite paving, a small grove of trees and lots of loose chairs for visitors.
Green grass? Not here.
Although city founders once intended a continuous series of Park Blocks through the heart of downtown, the chain was interrupted many decades ago by blocks that fell into private ownership. The new plaza, which sits above six levels of underground parking, will be surrounded on all sides by buildings.
A dozen years ago, the block's previous owners planned a controversial 12-story building on the block, with 10 floors of parking.
"We were debating awnings at the bottom level to try and humanize it," recalled Lloyd Lindley, chairman of the Portland Design Commission, which unanimously approved the new plan.
After a series of closed-door meetings, the former owners transferred the block to developer Tom Moyer, who agreed to donate the surface for a park if he could build six levels of underground parking. Construction of the underground garage is nearly finished.
Allison Rouse, Parks Bureau project manager, said the $4.6 million plaza should be finished by spring 2009. "It's going to be a signature park downtown and an important part of downtown," she said.
The bureau led an exhaustive 15-month design effort that included a local citizens advisory committee; an internationally known landscape architect, Laurie Olin; and a team of Portland architects.
The design commission's only jurisdiction was over the 1,050-square-foot cafe, which is hardly bigger than a small downtown condo unit. Nevertheless, the commission held several meetings to investigate the tiniest details, reflecting its view of the small structure's importance.
The cafe will seat 30 to 40 people, depending on how an operator chooses to configure it. Walls will be made of glass, limestone and stainless steel, and will be open on all four sides with doors or a service window. The structure also contains a single public toilet. A vegetated eco-roof will be watered by rain or by water collected in a cistern.
The cafe will sit under a glass-paned canopy about 28 to 30 feet high, which will also provide rain protection for a gently elevated patio. Portable heaters will provide outdoor warmth when necessary.
An in-ground water feature in the northeast corner could be turned off and the space used as a small amphitheater for readings, drama or music. However, the plaza is not intended to compete with nearby Pioneer Courthouse Square for large-scale public events.
Dan Corson, a Seattle artist who does public art projects with light, will be asked to create an innovative light project under the glass canopy.
The final plan calls for extending granite pavers across Southwest Park and Ninth from building front to building front to give the plaza a larger feel. It also means the streets could be easily closed when events demand more space.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/orego...050.xml&coll=7
Prev
Linear Mode
