Oak Harbor Facility Project in Final Design Phase, GreenWorks completes the Windjammer Park Integration Plan

Gill Williams and Derek Sergison traveled to Seattle last week to take part in a team meeting for the Oak Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant project. This project, now in its final design phase, will take advantage of technological updates to modernize the regional facility, integrate it with the surrounding environment, and reduce its visual and olfactory impacts. With the facility situated in Windjammer Park on the shores of Oak Harbor, GreenWorks is preparing planting and hardscape plans that will reflect the coastal setting with the inclusion of rolling dunes planted with coastal grasses and perimeter sidewalks that will emulate local wooden docks. Pedestrian and automobile circulation on either side of the facility provides primary access from downtown Oak Harbor to Windjammer Park and the waterfront. The site plan requires the creation of strong physical and visual links along these axes. The design allows for parts of the facility to be exposed to the public, offering opportunities for interpretation along the two main thoroughfares. Our work for the wastewater treatment plant spurred our involvement with the Windjammer Park Integration Plan. Funds from the renovation of the wastewater treatment plant were allocated to develop an integration plan for the park. The Windjammer Park Integration Plan provides the long-term plan to integrate existing and new program elements into this 28.5 acre waterfront park. GreenWorks led the design effort by working closely with the City of Oak Harbor, the Community Advisory Group, and the public to devise a preferred concept. The final concept plans for a renovation of the swimming lagoon, improved pedestrian walking trails, reconfigured parking lots, new events plaza and splash park outside the facility, as well as a performance stage, new playgrounds and multiuse fields. To aid implementation, GreenWorks developed a phasing plan to guide the future programming of Windjammer Park. The Integration Plan was adopted by City Council in May.

Paradise Under the Asphalt

Last weekend, GreenWorkers pitched in at Astor Elementary School’s depaving where a group of 100 volunteers spent a Saturday removing 5,000 square feet of asphalt. The demolition was orchestrated by Depave (depave.org) whose mission is to assist communities in transforming their pavement lots into neighborhood greenspaces. The asphalt removal is making way for a new playground which includes a turf mound, group swings, tree groves, and a custom log and boulder climber. GreenWorks was directly hired by Astor PTSO to design the playground which is on schedule for construction this summer.

Two GreenWorks Projects Honored by the Daily Journal of Commerce

Last week, the DJC held its 21st annual TopProjects awards to celebrate and acknowledge outstanding building and construction projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Two GreenWorks projects were honored: Portland – Milwaukie Light Rail East Segment won first place in the Transportation Category and Bend Whitewater Park (Colorado Paddle Trail) took second place in the Infrastructure Category.

These recent photos of the Whitewater Park show the new safe passage over the existing dam for many types of river users, including inflatable crafts and hardshell boats like kayaks and canoes. The park is made up of three distinctly different channels:

• the Passageway for people floating on the river with inner tubes;
• the Whitewater channel which offers whitewater wave features for whitewater recreation enthusiast;
• and the Nature Habitat channel, which is a special channel reserved for habitat.

In addition to the in-water recreational components, the design includes increased habitat diversity along the river by incorporating fish passage and on-bank habitat restoration, design improvements to McKay Park, and removal of the existing pedestrian bridge and replacement with a new, higher, pedestrian bridge.

Check out the City of Bend’s website for more on this exciting new park: http://bendparksandrec.org/bend-whitewater-park/

Orange Line Featured in May LAM Magazine

Check out the May issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine with a feature article about the TriMet Orange Line Portland –Milwaukie Light Rail (PMLR) project. GreenWorks was part of the team that assisted TriMet in the regional effort to extend light rail service from downtown Portland to downtown Milwaukie and North Clackamas County. The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project is a vital transportation element in the region’s strategy to manage growth and build livable communities for future generations. GreenWorks provided landscape architectural services for the final design of the Portland Milwaukie Light Rail including planting and irrigation design, green infrastructure, sustainability initiatives, and art coordination. The team also assisted in coordination and collaboration efforts with TriMet, Clackamas County, Multnomah County, the cities of Portland, Milwaukie and Oregon City, the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Portland Development Commission.

The new bridge built for the Orange Line, Tilikum Crossing, is named after the Chinook word for people to promote this unifying vision for the project. The opening of the Orange Line poses a new manner of viewing the cities of Portland and Milwaukie as connected communities. Rail tracks are all too often a symbol of division. The design for the Orange Line rejects this archetype. Our landscape approach was informed by the connectivity that is inherent to the project and will strengthen the region over time. The project is a catalyst to fundamentally heal the urban fabric socially, culturally, and environmentally. This concept is manifested in every detail of the project, from the overall vision down to the plants selected. Our design team chose fast-growing, pioneer species that colonize and begin the process of natural repair to the site disrupted by the new infrastructure. These plantings quickly create mass and scape for an immediate recognizable identify. The design also includes stable, mature plant communities to support and achieve the long-term aspirations, which stich the neighborhoods and the communities to the station areas. The Orange Line PMLR project is above all about connecting people and bringing economic vibrancy to the Portland Milwaukie transit corridor.

https://landscapearchitecturemagazine.org/ (also available at Powell’s City of Books)

The Stormwater Green Wall at the Portland Expo Center has a new admirer!

A female mallard duck was recently photographed enjoying the Wall’s lush vegetation. Since opening in 2014, the Stormwater Green Wall has flourished. After a winter that broke rainfall records in the Portland Metro area, the ferns, star jasmine, sedge, and other plants are thriving. The Stormwater Green Wall was designed in partnership with the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) as a pilot project. The Wall manages and treats 9,400 square feet of roof stormwater runoff, and it continues to be monitored to better understand its performance and relevance to future projects. The Stormwater Green Wall was constructed as a freestanding custom metal structure with a gravity water distribution system that feeds stormwater to a series of vegetated channels that filter pollutants and absorb stormwater. We are delighted to learn that besides processing stormwater, it provides urban wildlife habitat too!

Meadowscaping Handbook in the Works

GreenWorks is assisting Mary Logalbo from West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District and Mark Griswold Wilson, Urban Ecologist, with the The Meadowscaping Handbook.GreenWorks' role in The Meadowscaping Handbook started with creating three meadowscaping planting design templates including front yard urban meadow, parkway strip meadow and wet meadow. When West Multnomah Soils and Water Conservation District decided to create a how-to publication for urban meadowscaping, GreenWorks was asked to generate 3D perspective sketches for each design template, exhibited below. During this process and the successful relationship West Multnomah Soils and Water Conservation, GreenWorks has continued to assist by graphically compiling the handbook into a beautiful publication that will be available later this year. Please stay tuned for an update when The Meadowscaping Handbook has been released.

New Bridge for Longview Washington Completed

Construction of a new bridge crossing historic Lake Sacajawea Park on Washington Way in Longview Washington has been completed. Lake Sacajawea Park, built in 1924, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The existing bridge seen in the photo above, built in 1934 as a temporary structure, was listed in the Register as ‘non-contributing’.

GreenWorks, working with the City of Longview and OBEC Consulting Engineers, assisted in developing conceptual design for bridge elements such as the bridge form and character, material, railing design, finishes and lighting fixtures. The team developed bridge design that would fit and complement the historic context of the park. The constructed bridge photo provided shows how successfully the design and construction of the bridge accomplished the design vision.

Other project design team members included Kittleson and Associates, Inc., Artifacts Consulting, Inc., Gibbs & Olson, Inc., Ecological Land Services, Inc., Geotechnical Resources, Inc.

Westmoreland and Crystal Springs Creek Receive APA Award for Sustainability

GreenWorks recently received a 2015 National APA Award for Excellence in Sustainability in the category of Sustainable Parks, Open Space and Recreation for their work at Westmoreland Nature Play area. GreenWorks worked with Portland Parks and Recreation to replace an aging playground with an innovative nature play area at the same time that Portland Bureau of Environmental Services led a stream enhancement /fish habitat improvement project on Crystal Springs Creek, which is adjacent to and an inspiration for the nature play area. The Award recognized both projects for creating a new place that connects watershed health, human health and livability.

Grand Opening of Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail

The much anticipated grand opening of the Orange Line, TriMet’s newest addition to its growing light rail network , was held on Saturday September  12th. The event, which spanned the length of the new 7.3 mile line, saw an enormous turnout of citizens excited to ride the new line and enjoy the event festivities at each of the new stations along the route. One of the day’s highlights was riding a train full of people and hearing the cheering that erupted as the train crossed onto the new Tilikum Crossing bridge that spans the Willamette River. There was genuine excitement in the air for this new significant addition to the fabric of Portland. GreenWorks is proud to have been a part of the design team on this project, involved with the landscape design at stations along the six mile long east segment of the line. For more pictures and video of the day, go to the link provided below.

http://howweroll.trimet.org/2015/09/14/max-orange-line-grand-opening-a-historic-convergence-video/

UC Davis West Campus Project Wins Award

The University of California West Campus Improvements project recently received an Honor Award for Excellence in Landscape Architecture and Open Space Planning and Design from The Society for College and University Planning. GreenWorks participated as part of a design team to create a vibrant and ecological residential village with streets, town square, greenbelts and public recreation facilities for this 200 acre residential development for the University of California adjacent to the UC Davis campus. The project team included: West Village Community Partnership (Urban Villages and Carmel Partners); SWA Group; Studio E Architects; MVE Institutional; Cunningham Engineering; GreenWorks; Teichert Construction; Moore Ruble Yudell; Mithun; Mogavero Notestine Associates; Lim Chang Rohling & Associates; Meeks+Partners; SunPower.