Teams unveil landscape design ideas for Mount Tabor reservoirs

Portland city officials and residents have weighed in with their opinions about a proposed plan to cover three open reservoirs in Mount Tabor Park. Now it's time for four teams to share their views of the design direction the project should take.

The teams were selected as finalists in

The budget for the design and execution of the improvements is $13.7 million.

The goal is to have the improvements - what will appear on and around the tanks once they're covered - coincide with reconstruction of the reservoirs into underground tanks. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the city began discussing the need to cover the tanks in order to protect the water in the reservoirs.

The design competition drew interest from dozens of firms, with nine teams submitting qualifications for consideration. An evaluation panel reviewed the submissions and selected four teams to participate in the competition.

The teams, led by landscape architects, consist of the following firms:

* Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd. landscape architects of Seattle and London with Lango Hansen Landscape Architects of Portland; and Historical Research Associates of Missoula, Mont., a specialist in historical restoration and rehabitation.

* Mayer/Reed landscape architects of Portland with SWA Group landscape architects and urban planners of Sausalito, Calif.; WET Design of Universal City, Calif.; and Michael Willis Architects of San Francisco.

* StoSS landscape urbanism of Boston with Nevue Ngan landscape architects of Portland and Taylor & Burns Architects of Boston.

* Walker Macy landscape architects and planning of Portland with Atelier Dreiseitl of Germany, Andy Cao of Los Angeles and Thomas Hacker Architects of Portland.

I am very excited about the four teams that have been selected to participate in the competition, said Portland City Commissioner Dan Saltzman.

Paul Morris, a senior professional associate with Parson Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas Inc. of Portland, is the design competition adviser to the city of Portland. He's also the national president of American Society of Landscape Architects.

All three of the reservoirs are historical cultural landscapes, said Morris, and in fact have been submitted for registration on the National Register of Historical Places.

Morris said the competition has occurred over the past six months and was the result of a design excellence initiative from Portland Mayor Vera Katz's office.

The issue of submerging the water tanks has raised controversy.

People want to retain the value of what they hold so dear, he said of the reservoirs.

The teams handed their design concepts in on Friday. They will be on public display this week at several locations throughout the city. Visitors will be invited to submit questions and comments.

The dates, times and locations are:

* 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today through Friday at the Portland City Hall atrium, 1221 S.W. Fifth Ave.

* 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today on the first level of the Lloyd Center, northwest entrance near Nordstrom.

* 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the Southwest Community Center lobby, 6820 S.W. 45th Ave. in Portland.

* 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the main entrance of Mall 205, 9900 S.E. Washington St.

In addition, the design concepts will be available for viewing at http://www.water.ci.portland.or.us.

A day long series of public presentations will be held Saturday at Multnomah County Commission Chambers in the Multnomah Building, 501 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. in Portland, to give each team the opportunity to present concepts and credentials. The first presentation will begin at 1 p.m., with the last presentation to conclude by 7 p.m.

From 1 to 2:15 p.m., the Walker Macy team will present its concepts; from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m., the Mayer/Reed team will present. The Gustafson Guthrie Nichol team will present from 4 to 5:15 p.m.; and from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m., the StoSS team will present.

The presentations will be broadcast live on MCTV channel 29 beginning at 1 p.m.

Morris said that team members were told not to speak to the media before the public presentations.

On Oct. 12, an international professional jury will judge the entries, and on the following day, one concept will be chosen. A public announcement of the winning design will be made Oct. 18.

After the winning design concept is picked, the city of Portland will then have to negotiate with the firms and the team, Morris said, and sign a contract so the teams can begin design and development.

Rich Riegel is a Portland freelance writer. He can be reached at richriegel@earthlink.net.