An estimated $4.5 million contract with Northwest Infrastructure LLC to demolish O’Bryant Square received the Portland City Council‘s approval on Wednesday. The total project cost is slightly more than $5 million, which includes $500,000 in required contingency.

The city has also waived the 120-day demolition delay for the project.

O’Bryant Square, a city-owned property, is located between Southwest Park and Ninth avenues, and Washington and Harvey Milk streets. It consists of a public plaza operated by Portland Parks and Recreation and an underground parking garage operated by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT).

An ordinance passed by Portland City Council authorizes demolition of the surface plaza and underground parking structure and backfill of the property to match the grade of surrounding streets. The plaza and parking structure were constructed in the early 1970s.

Due to concerns over the parking garage’s structural integrity, PBOT commissioned an engineering study in 2018. The results led to closure of the parking garage, the plaza and portions of the roadway closest to the property due to the potential risk of structural failure.

In December 2022, emergency procurement authority was invoked by the city to expedite the contractor selection process. Engineering plans and specifications have since been finalized for the project.

PBOT selected Northwest Infrastructure LLC to handle demolition. The company will perform 96.8 percent of the demolition and is finalizing the subcontractor utilization plan, PBOT public information officer Dylan Rivera stated in an email.

Last month, PBOT applied for a building permit. With the delay waived, demolition can begin as soon as the Bureau of Development Services issues the permit – possibly in the next few weeks.

Money secured for the demolition includes $2.2 million from Portland Parks and Recreation, $670,000 from the city’s general fund, and $670,000 from the city’s parking facilities fund. The City Council is expected to vote next week on a proposal to allocate $1.5 million more from the general fund via policy set-asides, according to Rivera.

The property’s long-term future isn’t set yet. In March, the Portland Parks Foundation worked with Portland Parks and Recreation and Portland State University’s Center for Public Interest Design to: host six webinars; issue a survey that received more than 400 responses; meet with focus groups featuring retailers, residents and property owners; and hold two open houses.

“Working with five leading public space experts from around the country, we winnowed all the feedback down and handed it over to a dozen local design teams to develop concepts: what might a future new park look like and what part of that vision could be realized as an interim activation as soon as demo is complete,” Randy Gragg, executive director of Portland Parks Foundation, stated in an email.

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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.

“We 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 – 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.”

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

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O’Bryant Square has languished for nearly four years, as the city of Portland has struggled to devise a workable, funded plan to redevelop the half-block plaza in downtown.

Now the city has put forward a proposal to redevelop the square that would rely in part on a $5 million federal grant. The city would contribute an additional $4.44 million to revitalize the park space between Southwest Park and Ninth avenues, and Washington and Harvey Milk streets.

The Portland Office of Management and Finance submitted a grant application to the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) on Jan. 28, requesting $5 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. The plan was forged by three city bureaus: Parks and Recreation, Transportation, and Planning and Sustainability.

The city would use the funding, if awarded, to demolish the structurally unsound 21,000-square-foot parking garage. Public engagement, design and construction to rebuild the half-acre park would follow, according to a copy of the , which was obtained through a public records request.

The $9.44 million project budget also calls for construction of Green Loop street improvements in the area; the Green Loop is set to connect to the Ankeny West food cart pod a couple of blocks north of O’Bryant Square. Portions of the Green Loop would wrap around the square on Southwest Ninth Avenue and on Southwest Harvey Milk Street, providing pedestrian and bicycle routes as well as public space.

The city also wants to use some of the federal funding to improve and make permanent Pride Plaza – an LGBTQ-friendly area in the West End. Pride Plaza sprang up during closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Portions of Southwest Harvey Milk Street were closed to vehicle traffic as the pandemic took hold in 2020, and nearby businesses erected outdoor seating.

City officials abruptly fenced off O’Bryant Square on March 5, 2018, citing structural deficiencies related to the underground SmartPark garage. The public plaza has since continued to deteriorate. It’s increasingly incongruous as more than a billion dollars in new development rises nearby, including the $600 million, 35-story Ritz-Carlton tower under construction diagonally across Washington Street, and the 25-story Eleven West building two blocks west.

Downtown business interests are eager to see the city move forward after years of inter-bureau wrangling and inaction.

“Obviously, O’Bryant Square itself, it’s very important that gets reopened,” said Matthew Goodman, vice president of Downtown Development Group, the developer of Eleven West. “It’s been far too long.”

Walt Bowen, CEO of BPM Real Estate, the developer of the Ritz-Carlton tower on Block 216, declined to answer questions. A spokesman, Pat Walsh, stated in an email: “A new park will greatly benefit the Green Loop.”

Development of O’Bryant Square would leave residual floor-area-ratio development rights that could be sold to a private developer, according to the city’s application. The city would dedicate any revenue from the sale of FAR to the project’s matching funds. The city estimates the project would create 205 jobs and help retain 84 jobs.

The grant process is competitive, an EDA spokesman said. Portland’s application will be evaluated by an investment review committee, and if successful, will advance to the agency’s assistant secretary for final approval.

Portland’s Hennebery Eddy Architects has done pro-bono design work to show what O’Bryant Square could become. The firm’s office in the Pittock Block overlooks the plaza.

“Hennebery Eddy is strongly in favor of moving the demolition and redesign of O’Bryant Square forward as soon as humanly possible,” Tim Eddy, president of the firm, stated in an email. “The square has been in a steady state of decline for more than three decades and is in a critical location in downtown relative to surrounding historic buildings, new development and the Green Loop.”

Design and development would begin this year, with construction scheduled to wrap up in July 2027, according to the grant proposal.

Some observers said they were frustrated by the lengthy delays.

“By the time O’Bryant Square is completely redeveloped, it will have probably been close to a decade at that point,” said Iain MacKenzie, who runs the Next Portland architecture and development blog. “Nonetheless, I think there’s a great vision there.”

Mark Ross, spokesman for Portland Parks and Recreation, stated that the lack of funding for garage demolition has held up the project.

“The proposed schedule reflects the complexity of the project and the remaining due diligence, design, resource development, engineering and engagement work required to support construction,” Ross stated. “Once funded, PP&R will work with city partners to expedite project delivery.”

Commissioner Carmen Rubio has allocated $3 million in parks system development charges to expand capacity at O’Bryant Square.

Portland should carefully consider engaging a landscape architect to turn the temporary improvements at Pride Plaza into a lasting public space, MacKenzie said.

“We very rarely do very high-quality public realm projects in Portland,” he said. “I’d love to see something that really did redevelop Harvey Milk and make those two, potentially three, blocks really a pedestrian-focused and inviting public realm that people would specifically go to, to visit.”

Food-cart advocate Keith Jones has been working to relocate carts to the area between O’Bryant Square and East Burnside Street. He sees the Green Loop improvements as part of the Cart Blocks concept, formerly known as the Culinary Corridor, connecting the Ankeny West pod to O’Bryant Square. The concept originated when more than 50 food carts were evicted from Block 216 to make way for the tower.

Jones is looking to possibly install shipping containers on Ankeny Street between Southeast Eighth and Park avenues that would host retail businesses. Another idea he’s floated is to station a double-decker bus at Burnside Street with service of coffee in the morning and alcohol at night.

“I’m looking at it as an opportunity to continue to extend resilient outdoor businesses toward O’Bryant Square and connecting it to Ankeny West,” he said.

The block has some flaws. Architects who have studied O’Bryant Square point to dead zones to the north and east: the blank walls of the Union Bank Building and a CenturyLink telecommunications building, and a small parking lot.

“If the grant’s successful, it’s an opportunity to start over with an urban park that has had a difficult, troubled history, and it’s an opportunity to enliven a part of downtown that is extremely challenging,” said Randy Gragg, executive director of the Portland Parks Foundation.

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A plan to reform O’Bryant Square, in downtown Portland, is slowly advancing, more than two years after the plaza was abruptly closed because of structural issues with the parking garage underneath.

The city of Portland is investigating potential demolition of the underground garage and ground-level plaza. A contractor doing design work for all of the city’s garages is also evaluating options for O’Bryant Square, Portland Bureau of Transportation spokesman Dylan Rivera stated in an email message.

“We’re asking our contractor to give us an estimate for what it would cost to remove the parking garage and deliver a site that will be usable for our partners at Portland Parks & Recreation,” Rivera stated.

Portland Parks & Recreation plans to eventually build anew on the half-block site between Southwest Washington and Harvey Milk streets, and Ninth and Park avenues, according to a spokesman.

“A�ڳٱ�� PBOT fills in the parking garage, Portland Parks & Recreation will work with the community, adjacent property owners and other stakeholders to build a new park on the site’s surface,” Parks bureau spokesman Mark Ross stated in an email. “The exact schedule is unknown at this time.”

A contractor, IML Services of Vancouver, Washington, submitted an early assistance application July 22 on the city’s behalf for demolition of the garage and park.

“The contractor needs this permit to gather the details we need for a good cost estimate,” Rivera stated.

“Our goal is to remove as little material as possible,” he added. “For example, if we can preserve the sidewalks and trees, that might be one way to save money.”

Portland Parks & Recreation, the plaza’s owner, has been hampered by budget cuts.

O’Bryant Square has been closed since March 5, 2018, when structural deficiencies were found. The approximately half-block square was a popular lunch spot for workers in the area as well as tourists visiting the Block 216 food cart pod until it closed in June 2019 to allow construction of a 35-story mixed-use tower that will include a Ritz-Carlton hotel.

Hennebery Eddy Architects and downtown advocates have been involved in imagining for O’Bryant Square a future design that reflects the Park Blocks to the north and south.

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More than a year after closing O’Bryant Square because of structural deficiencies, Portland Parks & Recreation still has no capital budget, no design and only a vague time line for reopening the half-block plaza in downtown Portland.

Parks officials hope to reopen the public plaza by 2023. By then, it’s possible that a neighboring 35-story mixed-use tower, not yet started but expected to hold more than 1 million square feet of space, will be completed.

City officials, architects and downtown business owners met Wednesday to discuss the future of O’Bryant Square as part of Design Week Portland. The event, hosted by Hennebery Eddy Architects, came as O’Bryant Square was closed for the 399th consecutive day.

Hennebery Eddy Architects, led by associate principal Will Ives, has worked pro bono on various design concepts for O’Bryant Square. The early concepts have focused on creating a “flexible, open public space,” Ives said.

The parks bureau closed O’Bryant Square on March 5, 2018, after visible structural issues were discovered in the underground parking garage. The bureau soon erected a fence that has remained in place.

In the months since, the city has made little progress on reopening the plaza.

“It’s nothing urgent or imminent,” Parks & Recreation spokesman Mark Ross said.

At the same time, the parks bureau has struggled with a $7 million budget deficit, and is considering closing Sellwood Community Center and Columbia Pool in ongoing budget talks. “We have a lot of needs and very little money,” Ross said.

The parks bureau has dedicated $1.5 million in system development charges toward planning for O’Bryant Square’s future. The bureau’s proposed 2019-20 budget includes no additional funding for O’Bryant Square.

A full rebuild of the plaza is estimated to cost $10 million or more.

“For us, that is a huge lift,” said Britta Herwig, the parks bureau’s capital program manager.

The parks bureau has also undergone leadership transitions. Adena Long, formerly of New York City, was appointed parks director in February; Kia Selley had served as interim director for several months after Mike Abbaté resigned in May 2018.

In August 2018, Mayor Ted Wheeler reassigned oversight of the bureau from Commissioner Amanda Fritz to Commissioner Nick Fish.

“We absolutely have common cause in getting it reopened,” said Sonia Schmanski, Fish’s chief of staff.

Commissioner Chloe Eudaly’s office has also been involved in O’Bryant Square discussions. Eudaly’s chief of staff, Marshall Runkle, is awaiting the results of soil tests. Initial analysis suggested soils are pressing laterally against the parking structure, Runkle said.

Depending on the results of the soil tests, Runkle is working on a plan to reopen O’Bryant Square pending a long-term project to rebuild the plaza.

“We’re going hard on: is there an interim solution?” Runkle said. “We should know in a matter of weeks the results of those tests, and I think that will help us get to the next step in this conversation.”

O’Bryant Square opened in 1967 as a continuation of the Park Blocks, Parks Foundation Executive Director Randy Gragg said. It arrived as Portland was establishing public spaces throughout downtown, including Lovejoy Plaza in 1966 and Keller Fountain Park in 1970.

O’Bryant Square was for a time a vibrant gathering place for Portlanders, Gragg said.

“This is where people went to mourn the death of John Lennon in 1980,” he said.

Over time, O’Bryant Square came to be associated with drug use and homelessness. The plaza suffered from a lack of ground-floor activity on neighboring blocks to the north, west and east, where large office buildings and a parking lot lack retail spaces facing the plaza. The fountain was shut off in the early 2000s.

“It’s sort of a textbook case of how not to design a park for public use,” Gragg said.

Use of the park grew during the recession as the parking lot on Block 216 became a popular attraction for food carts. Many customers of the block’s more than 50 food carts would eat their meals in O’Bryant Square. The remaining food carts are expected to be evicted as soon as this summer to prepare for excavation of the tower site.

There have been some suggestions from Gragg and others that O’Bryant Square could be part of a Culinary Corridor through downtown Portland. The City Council may consider a resolution to that effect, Runkle said.

There should be a solution for O’Bryant Square, said Tim Eddy, president of Hennebery Eddy Architects.

“It was an open space that had its issues, but it was a really valuable, heavily used open space in downtown Portland,” he said.

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O’Bryant Square will be closed indefinitely to the public because of structural issues with the underground parking garage on the block, Portland officials said today.

“We just got a better understanding of the situation with the structure,” said Dylan Rivera, a spokesman for the Portland Bureau of Transportation. “Our engineers have advised us that it’s probably best to limit public access out of an abundance of caution.”

Engineers found flaws in walls, joists, columns and footings of the SmartPark garage.

A fence will go up around the block beginning today. Sidewalks will be closed as well, forcing pedestrians to detour. City officials asked the public to stay away from the block while the fence is erected.

It’s not clear what comes next for the half-acre site. City officials said it would take time to evaluate the cost of reconstruction and any other options.

“Long-term plans haven’t yet been identified,” said Mark Ross, a spokesman for Portland Parks & Recreation. “It’s going to be a city effort. The bureaus will have to work together to solve a challenge.”

The half-block site is bounded by Southwest Ninth and Park avenues, and Stark and Washington streets.

The plaza has been a popular destination for customers of nearby food carts, but locals have long complained the site is blighted with street youths and homeless individuals. A fountain on the plaza has been shut off for years.

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