October 10, 2003
(Updated) City Nears Naming Mt. Tabor Above-Ground Design Winner
Note: This post has been updated. Any and all updates appear at the end of the original post.
Since I've been neglecting my duties here while watching a friend's two-year-old, Jack beat me to this. It's just about time for the City to select the winning design proposal for the "what goes on top" portion of the open reservoir replacement project at Mt. Tabor.
Oregonian architecture columnist Randy Gragg covered this on Wednesday:
In the earnest debates over the capping of Mount Tabor's reservoirs, a simple fact has often been ignored: The city is planning to invest $12 million in a park.
What that could potentially buy is on view this week in the national design competition the Portland Parks Bureau is holding for Mount Tabor Park. Four firms have offered up visions that, beyond capping the reservoir, will change Mount Tabor Park from a largely inner eastside reserve to a regional scenic attraction -- a Washington Park for the inner eastside.
The plans -- two from local firms, one from Seattle and the other from Boston -- are on view through Friday at the Portland City Hall atrium, plus other locations and on the Internet (see box). And from 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday, the designers will publicly present their ideas to a jury of national and local representatives who will decide the winner. The decision will be announced Oct. 17.
As indicated here, and as pointed out by Jack, the public input process is once again fairly stunted, as comments must be received by October 11 -- that's tomorrow, the very day the designers make their presentations after a single week of their proposals being on display at various locations around the city.
One would think that perhaps after the public relations disaster that the entire open reservoir replacement project became, the City might have thought to have a longer period of public comment for the "what goes on top" aspect of it, since that's the part they seem to think will be the saving grace in terms of public opinion.
As for the designs themselves, if opponents to the burial project fail in all their efforts to halt it, I'm partial either to the proposal by Team 1 (which Gragg refers to as "Contemporary Picturesque Natural"):
"Contemporary Picturesque Natural" reshapes the three reservoirs into a new vision of the picturesque park tradition from which they first were born. Reservoir 1 would become a wetland, draining into a series of hillside gardens. Reservoir 5 would become a smooth, reflecting "water table" ethereally hovering several feet above the current stone walls to mirror the sky. Most dramatically, the waters of Reservoir 6 would be restored atop the new underground tank, but Southeast 60th Avenue will extend, via a tunnel, literally beneath the water, becoming a powerful new gateway to the entire park.
(Click to Enlarge)
or, alternatively, that of Team 4 (which Gragg refers to as "Community and Continuity"):
"Community and Continuity" takes a strongly conservative stance, prominently detailing the firm's response to the guiding principles created by a citizen steering committee who contributed to the competition. Restoring parts of the 1911 plan for the park that were never complete, the plan features a recirculating fountain procession running between the reservoirs. Imagine Rome's Spanish Steps crossed with the Columbia Gorge.
(Click to Enlarge)
As for the others: Team 2's proposal ("A Treasured History in Graceful Evolution") essentially eradicates the water features, while Team 3's proposal ("Staging Mt. Tabor") is far too sculpted, angular, and artificial. To some extent, "Community and Continuity" looks a little busy as well, whereas "Contemporary Pituresque Natural" appeals to my belief in spartaneity as a design approach.
So, other than the material available for the past week about which you might not have ever heard, or the material available on the website about which you might not have heard, tomorrow is your last chance to see the designs, your first chance to hear the designers themselves, and your last opportunity to weigh in via the shortened public comment process.
Design teams will be presenting their proposals in the Multnomah County Commission Chambers at 501 SE Hawthorne Boulevard, from 1:00 PM until 7:00 PM.
Update
And yesterday's Portland Tribune (whose website just got a little ugly and amateurish in design) has continuing background on the fight against the open reservoir replacement project.