New Public Art Dedicated at the Center for the Arts Plaza

A special dedication event was held on Saturday October 23rd to dedicate four new pieces of public art recently installed at the Gresham Center for the Arts Plaza. The works of art, collectively named FineTunedTulle by Seattle based artist Claudia Fitch, was commissioned by the Center for the Arts Foundation and was made possible by private donations to the Foundation. The event featured a number of different presentations and activities centered on art work's theme, which is representative of the different art forms. There was a dance performance by young aspiring ballerinas, reading of poetry, performance by the Portland Brass Quartet, an ‘Instrument Petting Zoo’ and arts and crafts tables for interactive kid activities. The quartet of forms, which range in height from 18 to 27 feet in height, serve as colorful beacons at the plaza’s door step. Construction of the plaza, designed by GreenWorks, was completed in June of 2009 and serves as the City of Gresham’s living room, where many public events and performances have already been held. The plaza is the first step in realizing a vision for an arts district in downtown Gresham that will be centered on the plaza.

Silver Falls Nature Play Area Breaks Ground!

Silver Falls State Park has been taking advantage of the nice weather the last few weeks and they have begun to clear, and grade the natural play areas and interpretive path. With the help of the county inmate work crew and a few dedicated volunteers they have transplanted many native plants, cleared 5 play areas and ¼ of a mile loop trail. Park staff will spend some of their time this winter fabricating play components, signage and interpretive elements for installation next spring and summer. In hard economic times creativity can help get a project completed. Oregon Park and Recreation Staff have been work with a Marion County Inmate Crew to implement the first stages to the project. Koin Local 6 was on site last week to check in on the crew’s progress. You can see their story and video footage here.

The park is looking for parks volunteers to help finish the construction. There are opportunities for artists, scout troops, families and other citizens with a range of skills. Let us know if you are interested in helping construct this nature based play area. We can find a task that meets your skills and commitment level.

You should be able to enjoy the nature play area starting in the summer of 2011.

GreenWorks Receives Julian Prize for Sustainability in Public Works

GreenWorks recently received the Julian Prize for Demonstrating Sustainability in Public Works based on their development guidelines work for the Clean Water Services Low Impact Development (LID) Approaches Handbook.

“The award recognizes individuals, practices or projects that showcase the role of public works in furthering the principles of sustainability. The awards are intended to recognize systems thinking, long term design practices, and infrastructure systems that sustain society. The awards are intended to further APWA’s purpose of education and recognition of excellence.” – APWA Oregon Chapter

GreenWorks worked with Clean Water Services to complement and update their current design and construction standards. The Handbook encourages the use of and simplifies the application of low impact development approaches that improve water quality and attenuate stormwater flows for the Tualatin River Watershed. GreenWorks created a series of easy-to-read sketches and fact sheets that clearly show what current LID applications look like and how best to apply them through illustrative diagrams, explanatory text and photographs.

Final Phase of Construction on Denver Avenue Completed

The second phase of construction on Denver Avenue in the Historic commercial district of the Kenton Neighborhood of North Portland has been completed. This phase of construction included the installation of new street paving using a new concrete pavement technique called Ultra Thin White Topping (UTW). The top 2”-3” of existing asphalt roadway was ground down and removed, and the concrete topping mix was laid down on top of the remaining existing asphalt base. Once the concrete has set, score joints were saw cut at a tighter spacing interval than standard concrete. Integral pigment was added to the concrete used for the intersections and parking aisles to distinguish these zones from drive lanes and to provide additional visual interest and traffic calming. This phase of construction completes streetscape improvements for the historic Kenton commercial district, which features widened sidewalks, new street trees, ornamental street lighting, storm water planters, accent paving, custom benches incorporating public art and bike lanes. These improvements will serve as a catalyst for the revitalization of the Kenton Neighborhood.

A public dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the completion of this project will be held on Thursday November 18th at 2:00 pm. Please join Mayor Sam Adams, Portland Bureau of Transportation, Portland Development Commission, Kenton Business Owners and neighborhood residents for the celebration.

GreenWorks Presents "137 Green Street Facilities in 4 Days" at Fall 2010 APWA Conference

Dave Elkin and Tim Strand recently presented their work with the City of Portland's Columbia Slough Watershed group that produced an inventory of stormwater treatment facilities in four high priority stormwater outfall target areas within industrialized areas of the Columbia Slough Watershed. During a four day process, the project team evaluated 109 acres of public right-of-way and identified over 130 green street facilities that would potentially treat stormwater runoff from 39 acres of impermeable surfaces. The results of the inventory were cataloged in a Stormwater Inventory & Prioritization GIS database, which was used to evaluate facility performance, design & construction feasibility, cost information, and supplemental benefits for each facility.

 

       

Pendleton Round-Up Celebrates 100th Anniversary

Sept 15-18, 2010 marked the 100th Year Anniversary of the legendary Pendleton Round-Up, an annual rodeo event that brings 50,000 people every year to the city of Pendleton, Oregon. GreenWorks worked with the Round-Up Association, the City of Pendleton, and ODOT to complete three high priority projects in time for the celebration, which include a new landscape gateway into downtown, Round-Up streetscape frontage improvements and Centennial Plaza, and a new Riverfront Park on the Umatilla River.  

GreenWorks Leads Streetscape Design Tour in Pendleton

GreenWorks' Mike Faha and Tim Strand led a tour of Pendleton's newly completed streetscape projects as part of the Fall 2010 APWA Conference. The group began the tour at the new US30 / Court / Dorion intersection, which was designed as a landscape gateway and features curvilinear basalt walls and groves of Jacquemonti Birch trees that create a grand sense of arrival to Pendleton's River Quarter District. They then toured the new Round-Up frontage improvements and Centennial Plaza, which features a new Pendleton landmark: a $150,000, 16-foot tall, bronze statue of the iconic Bucking Bronco. They concluded the tour at Pendleton's new Riverfront Park, which was designed to provide a visual and physical connection to the Umatilla River and Parkway trail system. The park also offers a flexible tree-lined plaza space that accommodates vendors during civic events.

Public Art installed at Gresham Center for the Arts Plaza

Four sculptures, by Seattle based artist Claudia Fitch, were installed at the Gresham Center for the Arts Plaza on Thursday Oct. 21^st. The quartet of forms range in height from 18 to 27 feet in height, and serve as colorful beacons at the plaza’s door step.  The work, which Claudia has named FineTunedTule, is based upon the theme of the four arts – visual art, music, literature and dance and is directly inspired by four formal tools/instruments representative of the arts respectively: the paintbrush, the trumpet, the fountain pen and the tutu.

Claudia writes about the work, “I am fascinated by the finely contoured shapes of all these tools (the tulle construction of the tutu being no less precisely delineated). And, like in the verbal pun of the working title, I saw an opportunity in these tool forms to play with their elegant sculptural shapes in a kind of cross referential way, switching functionality with humor, and punning on their visual similarities and differences.”

A public dedication of the public art sculptures will be held Saturday, October 23^rd, 2010 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, with formal presentations to begin at 12 noon. All are invited to attend. The plaza is located at 401 NE 2^nd Street, Downtown Gresham.

Construction of this project, designed by GreenWorks, was completed in June of 2009 and serves as the City of Gresham’s living room, where many public events and performances have already been held. The plaza is the first step in realizing a vision for an arts district centered on the plaza.

Hood River School Receives Recognition in Portland Monthly

As Hood River School District completes upgrades and building additions to several schools this fall, Hood River Middle school receives recognition for its LEED improvements. (See link to full article below.) In response to a successful bond measure the Hood River School District has been upgrading, renovating and building additions to their elementary, middle and high schools. GreenWorks helped retrofit existing sites and create new spaces and learning landscapes. Site improvements include plazas, playgrounds, stormwater facilities, outdoor classrooms, performance/ amphitheater spaces, learning gardens and associated landscapes. The site work carefully incorporates the needs of students and how they experience, use and enjoy a site while balancing safety, maintenance and character. GreenWorks services included schematic design, construction documents, specifications, LEED documentation, bidding assistance and construction administration.

For more information visit:  http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/home-and-garden/articles/leed-school-0910/

GreenWorker Finishes Strong in Portland Marathon

GreenWorks' Emily Arruda finished her second Portland Marathon on Sunday's 10-10-10 downtown event. Despite the pouring rain and wet conditions, Emily finished 38 minutes faster than last year's time setting a personal record of 4:32:15 and average pace of 10:23 per mile. She ranked in the top 47% overall and finished full stride passing 544 people in the final 6 miles while only allowing 8 to pass her by.  Congrats on your personal record and second marathon achievement Emily!

Emily and her brother David after their marathon finish