91视频

O’Bryant Square in downtown Portland may remain closed until May 2023, more than five years after it was fenced off because of structural deficiencies, according to a letter from Portland Parks & Recreation.

鈥淲e’ll do a full public process,鈥� said Allison Rouse, a Portland Parks & Recreation project manager. 鈥淭here will be a steering committee assembled.鈥�

Commissioner Amanda Fritz has dedicated $500,000 of revenues from system development charges to pay for the planning process, parks spokesman Mark Ross said.

The city is working on redevelopment plans for the site. Design concepts should be ready about a year from now, Rouse told the Design Commission.

The timeline is likely to raise questions in downtown Portland, where half-blocks of property typically don’t sit unused for five years. Other public plazas in the area are used heavily.

Greg Goodman, co-president of Downtown Development Group, said the process shouldn’t be so slow.

鈥淭hat’s disappointing to say the least,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s an extended period of time. Hopefully we can help them through a process that is much quicker.鈥�

Commissioner Nick Fish will take charge of Portland Parks & Recreation on Tuesday as part of Mayor Ted Wheeler’s reshuffle of bureau assignments. Until then, Commissioner Amanda Fritz leads the parks bureau.

A spokeswoman for Fish’s office said they had few details regarding plans for O’Bryant Square. A spokesman for Fritz could not immediately be reached for comment.

Goodman said he was optimistic Fish could expedite the square’s redevelopment.

鈥淚 think with Nick’s involvement and a partnership, I think we can move it along a lot faster than that,鈥� he said.

Goodman said he would discuss the future of O’Bryant Square with other civic leaders. Construction should take only about a year, he said.

O’Bryant Square was closed March 5 after structural defects were found in the small SmartPark garage underneath the plaza. It had been a popular lunch spot for West End office workers and tourists to eat food cart meals, but had also long drawn complaints of attracting drug use, public intoxication and homeless camping.

The parks bureau declined a request submitted to interview Rouse, who is leading the planning. But the bureau’s letter to the Design Commission, dated Aug. 18 and submitted as part of the design review process for the proposed 35-story tower on Block 216, provides some additional hints of O’Bryant Square’s future. Planning will be based on a 2007 concept design for the square, but updated to adhere to current guidelines.

The parks bureau intends to redevelop the square and keep it as public open space. The bureau does not plan to reopen parking underneath the park.

The square will be redesigned to 鈥渃omplement and not compete鈥� with Director Park and Pioneer Courthouse Square, and may 鈥渂e greener.鈥�

Uses could include a small performance space, some sort of recreation feature or food-vendor space.

For now, the sidewalk remains closed along Washington Street, forcing pedestrians to detour. Dylan Rivera, spokesman for the Bureau of Transportation, said the agency is working with the parks bureau to decide the future of the plaza and underground parking.

鈥淎s we learn more聽about聽the time frame needed for construction, we will consider improvements to the temporary traffic control plan, including a temporary sidewalk on Southwest Washington,鈥� Rivera stated in an email.

Goodman and others have suggested the square would be a logical landing spot for some of the dozens of food carts that would be evicted from Block 216 if developer Walt Bowen’s tower proposal moves forward. The project team has attended three design advice meetings and is scheduled to return for a fourth such meeting with the Design Commission on Sept. 13.

It’s also unclear how O’Bryant Square will integrate with the Green Loop 鈥� a six-mile route through Portland’s Central City that passes by the square on Southwest Ninth Avenue.