Construction Nearly Complete on the Lewis and Clark Festival Park

Kirby Nagelhout is wrapping up construction at The Lewis and Clark Festival Park in The Dalles. Construction of the $2.9 million park began in November 2011, and on Friday, July 13^th, Mike Faha and Alex Perove performed a final walk-through, inspecting the irrigation and planting design. Cedar Landscape, Inc. is the licensed landscape contractor that installed the entire site’s irrigation, planting, and the concrete unit pavers in the main plaza. Strong roof lines from the building, the trees, and expansive green lawn are some of the park elements that are visible from the freeway. These elements create an attractive buffer between I-84 and the railroad, and establish a green identity for the city of The Dalles. The grand opening of the park is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 6, 2012.

We would love for you to join us at the opening of the city’s newest community park!

Tanner Springs Park Project 1 of 5 finalists for Urban Land Institute Urban Open Space Award

Atelier Dreiseit and GreenWorks PC recently submitted their Tanner Springs Park project for the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Urban Open Space Award.  The competition recognizes an outstanding example of a well-used public open space that has spurred regeneration and the transformation of its surrounding community. The Atelier Dreiseit and GreenWorks submittal was one of the five finalists selected.

Other finalists include:

• The High Line in New York, N.Y.
• Pier 25 at Tribeca Section of Hudson River Park in New York, N.Y.
• Railroad Park in Birmingham, Alabama
• RiverWalk Urban Waterfront in Calgary, Alberta.

The winner will be announced at ULI’s Fall Meeting and Urban Land Expo, set for October 16 - 19, 2012 in Denver.

Click here for more about the ULI and Award Program.

Graham Oaks Nature Park Green Roof Featured in Parks and Rec Magazine!

Metro's Graham Oaks Nature Park, located in Wilsonville, Oregon is loved by neighbors and animal inhabitants alike. GreenWorks always strives to meld built elements and the natural environment together in our designs. A great example of how we've achieved this can be seen in the structures at Graham Oaks Nature Park.

The shelter is a modified prefabricated structure from Western Wood Structures. It was was modified to match the restroom on site as well as incorporate green features like the ecoroof. These multifunctional efforts were developed by a forward thinking team.

• Waterleaf Architecture worked to match colors, roof lines and green features from prefabricated structures from two different manufacturers.
• GreenWorks worked to develop an irrigation and ecoroof plan that would flourish in the sites open condition.
• Metro (as always) pushed the sustainable envelope and was able to support these slight modifications to make the buildings more ‘green’.

The result is seamless, beautiful and functional.

The National Recreation and Park Association recently included the ecoroof in an article entitled 'Green is Gold' in its March 2012 issue.

You can read the full article on the Parks and Recreation Magazine website.

Future Recreational Attraction on the Deschutes River in Downtown Bend, OR

Recently, the Bend Park & Recreation District has been working on a plan to alter the spillway on the Deschutes River at the Colorado Dam in downtown Bend to enable kayakers and inner-tubers to ride downstream without having to maneuver around the dam. The Colorado Avenue Dam creates an impoundment that was once used to support lumber mill operations and also maintains surface water levels upstream in the Mill District area. The dam is located in an area of the river that is heavily used during the summer months by people on inflatable rafts and inner-tubes. The current configuration blocks downstream passage and requires all river users to exit the river and put-in downstream. The dam creates a pinning hazard exposing a high number of users to the potential of being swept into the dam.

GreenWorks, as part of a team including OTAK, Pacific Habitat Resources, and RiverRestoration.org, provided a design for safe passage over the existing Colorado Dam for many types of river users including inflatable crafts, and hardshell boats like kayaks and canoes. The design includes whitewater play features, a higher pedestrian bridge and increased habitat diversity along the river. By incorporating a fish passage and on-bank habitat restoration, improvements to McKay Park, and removal of the existing pedestrian bridge, the design will achieve improved safety for river users and environmental conditions of the river.

Nature Play Community Workshop For Westmoreland Park

Portlanders celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a community design event put on by Portland Parks and Recreation and GreenWorks geared around the eventual design for a nature play area to be built in Westmoreland Park. Kids of all ages really enjoyed the event! Their creativity, teamwork and ingenuity were all in full gear. It was an amazing start to an exciting project. Thank you to those who joined us!

The Concept: Portland Parks and Recreation and GreenWorks Landscape Architecture invited the community to play with natural materials, talk about natural play, make models and lay the groundwork for the design of the nature play area at Westmoreland Park. The City of Portland recognizes the benefits of letting children play in nature, including the physical, mental and social benefits. Prior to the natural play workshop, Parks and Recreation staff participated in a workshop to discuss risk and maintenance associated with natural play areas.

The Activities: Activities ranged from having adults remember their childhood play experiences, to free building and water play areas, to model making. The design team was able to talk with kids and adults about what they would like to see in the natural play area.

The Outcome: As kids of different ages and abilities worked together, creativity soared. We got some amazing feedback and ideas for the play area. Plus, we had a lot of fun!

The Lewis and Clark Festival Park is Under Construction!

Located in The Dalles, Oregon, the festival area is positioned on a swath of land in between I-84 and the Union Pacific Railroad. Comparable in size to approximately three Portland city blocks, this design incorporates a parking lot, and a covered picnic pavilion, buttressed by restroom and picnic facilities. This focal point forms a strong presence to Union Street as well as a stage to the "great" lawn in which events could be held. A public art feature is proposed to be located on axis with Court Street. All of these elements combined, help to establish a strong connection with the historic downtown to the Columbia River, enhancing community identity, and encouraging economic development.