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The first step toward reopening O’Bryant Square — demolition of the current structure — is moving forward. Transportation Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has signed off on an emergency procurement letter to move forward with demolition.

The O’Bryant Square Plaza and Garage first opened in 1972 and was named for Hugh Donaldson O’Bryant, Portland’s first mayor. The garage provided about 100 parking spaces during that time. In 2018, a retaining wall in the southwest corner of the garage was found to be structurally deficient. A portion of the deficient wall had been reused from a building on the site that was built around 1915. Leaks into the garage were also discovered.

These safety concerns prompted the closure of the garage and plaza above it in 2018. A fence has closed off O’Bryant Square to the public ever since.

With an agreement now in place, demolition is expected to start in early 2023 with estimated completion during summer 2023. This will include the removal of all hardscape and structures, filling the structure with dirt, and then covering the surface with a new layer of grass.

Portland Parks and Recreation will begin work in early 2023 to program the new space in the near term, while designing a permanent new park long-term. Portland Parks and Recreation and the Portland Parks Foundation are collaborating with the Center for Public Interest Design, along with the Harvard Loeb Fellowship, to convene a community outreach effort March 7-11. Portland Parks Foundation Executive Director Randy Gragg said the event will bring various stakeholders to think about how the park can best serve those around it.

The demolition is a chance to restart, Gragg added, stating that the park was designed for a particular era.

“In its early days, it was an important public space,” Gragg said. “Lots of things happened there.”

As Pioneer Courthouse Square was built, the energy at O’Bryant got sucked away, Gragg added.

The park will be programmed first by Portland Parks and Recreation and designed later. An architect is not selected for the project at this time.

鈥淲e are very pleased to see that Portland Parks is moving forward with demolition of O’Bryant Square in early January,” Tim Eddy, president of Hennebery Eddy Architects, stated in an email. “Hennebery Eddy’s office space has overlooked the Square since 1992 鈥� we have seen the good and the not-so-good aspects of the Square for the past 30 years.”

In 2018, Hennebery Eddy convened a focus group of local property owners, architects, landscape architects, city officials and interested parties to chart a path toward reopening the square, in some form, as soon as possible.

“While we haven’t reviewed the demolition plans we are excited to hear that this is the direction the project is headed,” Eddy said. “In short, completing this work is essential to the health of downtown and it can’t happen soon enough.鈥�

An agreement for demolition is expected soon with Northwest Infrastructure LLC (NWI). The estimated cost of the agreement is $4.5 million.