PDXme

Summer in Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Pioneer Courthouse Square is my favorite place to meet someone. It's also the best place to attend a public event, as we saw last Thursday. It's got a long name, no doubt, but I find I have taken to shortening its name to "the Square" more than once. The space is often marketed as "Portland's Living Room," but I find this to be a little over the top. If anything it's a family room where Portlander's can be themselves.

Indeed, the Square is host to over 300 events each year according to Pioneer Courthouse Square Inc.'s (PCSI) website, but the space to me is much more than a place to showcase Portland's many talents; it's a place to meet and greet fellow Portlanders. MAX trains on the north and south sides of the square create an atmosphere ever in flux, but one can always count on the laid-back nature of the Square's ambience. The completion of the refurbished transit mall on SW 6th Avenue brings another MAX line and various buses to the center of Portland's vibrant downtown and family room, something that can only be described as "planned."

A postcard of Hotel Portland I was able to score at an antique store here in Eugene. The postcard was sent in January of 1909.

Over Portland Hotel's sixty year history, its guests included 11 U.S. Presidents, each visit prompting the dedication of a new set of china. In 1951, the planners of sprawl and automobiles took hold of Portland and razed Hotel Portland only to replace it with a two-story parking garage for the neighboring Meier & Frank department store. It wasn't until the early 1970s that the conversation to reclaim the block began.

The 1972-1974 the Downtown Portland Plan proposed that Block 169 be converted into open space, and with the help of $500,000 from Meier & Frank, along with a public campaign in 1981 by citizens a part of the "Friends of Pioneer Courthouse Square," the park became a reality. In 1984, after a personalized brick campaign and various donors of Square amenities, the Square opened to the public.

Pioneer Courthouse, the Square's namesake, in 1901. Note Hotel Portland behind the Courthouse.

2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the Square's presence in Portland. (You can sponsor a brick today!) In 1984, according to PCSI, over 9,000 Portlanders inaugurated the completion of Pioneer Courthouse Square with much fanfare. And what a gem they bestowed onto Portland! The Square's design, the brainchild of a team of Portland architects led by Will Martin, was selected after an international design competition. The chief architect, Martin, died tragically in a plane crash shortly after the Square's introduction to the Rose City.

Pioneer Courthouse Square, as one of Portland's most cherished Landmarks, holds a rich and vibrant past. My hope is that Portlanders young and old take this past into consideration, reflecting upon the successes and follies of past architects, planners and other visionaries and envision for themselves a city that is a reflection of us all. Certainly we Portlanders know how to enjoy and welcome each other in our own family room!

If you'd like to learn more and see more images of the Portland Hotel, be sure to visit PDXHistory! Many thanks to Jewel Lansing's book, Wikipedia, and PDXHistory for the content of this post.