Portland Parks & Recreation has officially launched a two-stage open design competition to reimagine a portion of Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The first stage is a request for qualifications.

Multidisciplinary teams from around the world are invited to develop ideas for how the park can better serve Portland for the next 50 years, according to a PP&R press release. The competition builds upon more than a year of community engagement, including surveys, stakeholder meetings, advisory committee discussions and a public workshop. Community members have shared ideas about improving access to the Willamette River, creating spaces that invite people to spend more time in the park, supporting major events, and making the park more welcoming and accessible for everyone, PP&R shared.

Prospective entrants will need to study the search statement in the RFQ and submit their approach to the project, experience and relevant design skills as well as propose a design team, including an architect/landscape architect registered in Oregon. The deadline for responses to the RFQ is 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 30.

Firms must issue submissions via the city’s .

The competition’s second stage — a request for proposals — is expected to start in mid-September. Three short-listed teams will be given additional information and asked to create conceptual designs for the entire 30-acre park with a focus on the bowl area, PP&R stated. The estimated capital project budget for the redevelopment of the bowl alone is estimated at $40 million.

The design competition is funded by a Metro 2040 planning and development grant that was awarded last year. The goal is to raise more money for design development and phased construction via a combination of private and public sources.

Concepts created by the short-listed firms will be shown in a public exhibition early next year.

Competition jurors — subject matter experts and community and client representatives who will interview the short-listed teams and select a winner — will be announced in early fall. The winner of the competition is expected to be announced next spring.

Full details of the competition, which is being run by London-based Malcolm Reading Consultants, are available .

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A design competition to reimagine a portion of Tom McCall Waterfront Park will kick off this summer and run for six months. The tentative plan is to issue a request for qualifications (RFQ) in July, Portland Parks & Recreation spokesperson Mark Ross stated in an email.

Interested firms will need to propose a design team, including a qualified architect/landscape architect of record (registered in the state of Oregon).

RFQ responses are expected to be judged in the fall. That process will result in a short list of three design teams. They will then be invited to respond to a request for proposals (RFP), which will have more detailed evaluation criteria, Ross stated.

The city’s goal is to reimagine how Portlanders and visitors connect with the Willamette River by redeveloping the park’s bowl. At this point it would include improving river access, adding flexible park spaces, and restoring river edge ecology.

Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) has hired architect search specialist Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) of London to manage the competition.

Portland-based social impact consultancy Interplay will lead the competition’s community engagement strategy, including focus groups, public events and feedback sessions.

PP&R has also formed a Waterfront Park Bowl Project Advisory Committee (PAC) made up of 18 individuals to help inform project decisions. PAC members will confirm community priorities for the project site, provide input on the design competition process, review and deliver feedback on design criteria and programming, provide advisory input during design development, and more.

The project team will work with the PAC and the Technical Advisory Committee to develop details of the competition’s scoring system and design criteria, Ross stated.

Jurors will be selected by MRC and PP&R.

Through community engagement, PP&R heard that some people believe there is limited access and visibility of the Willamette River. Community members also believe the lawn is under-activated with a lack of opportunities for play and recreation, food and beverage options, and restrooms. For the bowl specifically, there is a strong demand for water activities such as swimming, kayaking and paddleboarding, as well as a desire for a reimagined seawall, terracing, stormwater management and flood resilience. This information was shared with the PAC and the Technical Advisory Committee earlier this month.

At this time, funding for the project includes a $750,000 2040 planning and development grant, which Metro awarded last year.

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