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Despite vocal protestors that disrupted a portion of Wednesday’s Portland City Council meeting, city commissioners tentatively approved plans to demolish a historic building and portions of the reservoirs in Washington Park.

A final council decision is scheduled for June 10 that would grant a Portland Water Bureau land use application for a $76 million project to build a new underground reservoir in place of the park’s existing open-air reservoirs. The application sought the City Council’s OK to demolish the historic Weir Building and remove portions of two existing reservoir basins to make way for the proposed Washington Park Reservoir Improvements Project.

Opponents of these demolition plans voiced their displeasure during the council meeting Wednesday with boos and chanting 鈥渘o demo.鈥� At one point, the crowd got so riled up that city commissioners left the council chamber before returning to take a vote.

The proposed project would create a fountain consisting of a series of tiered pools and a nature area atop a planned 15-million-gallon underground drinking water reservoir in the footprint of one of the existing reservoirs. Washington Park’s other reservoir would be decommissioned and a lowland habitat area and reflecting pool would replace it.

Water Bureau administrator David Shaff said in a written statement on Wednesday that the council’s approval of the land use application will allow the city agency to comply with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act,which outlaws the use of uncovered reservoirs to store finished drinking water.

鈥淭he new reservoirs will make our system more reliable, resilient and secure,鈥� he said. 鈥淔ollowing a robust public involvement process, the design presented to council is supported by the neighbors of Washington Park.鈥�

Hoffman Construction crews are scheduled to start work on the project on July 1, 2016, and wrap up in late 2020.