Stewards Park EverywhereNowhere Oregon City, OR

Willamette Falls: Stewards’ Park

CONTEXT BIG IDEAS VISION PLAN PHASING

SITE REGENERATION

COMMUNITY AMENITY

ACCESS FOR KIDS

FULL SITE BUILD-OUT

FUTURE DENSITY

PLANTING STRATEGY NUTRIENT HARVESTING STORMWATER TREATMENT CIRCULATION RECREATION STEWARDS VEHICULAR SPATIAL TYPOLOGIES GATHER PERFORM EXHIBIT WANDER

jody rader mla gd2 fall 2013

CONTEXT

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PORTLAND (DOWNTOWN) 16 00

Oregon City, approximately 15 miles south of downtown Portland, is located directly on the Willamette River at river mile 26, south of the confluence with the Columbia River. The Blue Heron Paper Mill, which closed in 2011, is one of many industrial companies to operate on the lower bluff site area adjacent to Main Street and downtown.

For the last 150 years, the site has been occupied by industry, due to the proximity to fresh river water and the hydro-electric power station that put Oregon City on the map. Prior to the industrial revolution, this site is rumored to be the end of the Oregon Trail. Native American tribes have retained rights to harvest lamprey from the falls, similar to what has been practiced for centuries.

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With the closing of the Blue Heron Mill, the City, the State, the MPO, and a number of other stakeholders have actively entered into a master planning process, in order to create zoning changes that reflect the wishes of the community and ensure that the 23acre site will exhibit shared values, while instigating a regional destination.

Currently, vestiges of industrial buildings have been left on-site, while selective demolition has erased the memory of other buildings. Vegetation has taken over in many places, creating an interesting and exciting ecology, echoing the likeness of fallen ruins. A platform at the southwest corner of the site provides the closest view of the impressive Willamette Falls, the second-largest waterfall (by volume) in the United States.

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OREGON CITY

BLUE HERON SITE

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BIG IDEAS Through the planning process, a number of core values have been identified by the community as priorities for the site. These are: Healthy Habitats Economic Develoment Public Access Cultural and Historical Interpretation Through preliminary research, mapping, site visits, interviews, participation in a community meeting, and paradigm explorations, a number of additional big ideas were incorporated into this proposal for the site.

TO AND THROUGH THE FALLS

As expressed by the community at a community planning meeting in October of 2013, community members were most concerned about gaining ‘access’ to the Falls. For the last 150 years, the view to the Falls has been obscured by large industrial buildings. Few good vantage points exist to authentically view the falls. This is a priority within this proposal, along with the addition of a priority of getting people around the falls. Prior to industrial uses directly on the site, the flattened basalt ground was known as a portage route site, with a variety of proprietors over the years.

After the construction of the lock and dam on the West Linn side of the falls, the need for a portage route was no longer present.

However, today, this portage route could be re-defined, as recreational boating is popular in the area, and the lock and dam is currently closed.

In order for the site to survive as a sustainable, regional destination, active and collaborative stewardship is necessary. Over many previous years, the land has fallen to a single proprietor, or to a group of proprietors with singular, monetary goals. This has been to the detriment of health for the community, the land, and the River. Here, a proposal is a program which creates an evolving cycle of long-term investment, amenity and stewardship by getting people to the site at a young age and keeping them engaged with the River throughout their lives.

INVESTMENT, AMENITY, STEWARDSHIP

A PLACE FOR KIDS

Preliminary research of Oregon City and Portland revealed a paradigm that is common in most smaller American cities: there are not a lot of places designed for adolescents.

Planning processes generally do not include opportunities for kids to give input, although they are who will utilize the urban spaces that are designed in their cities more than anyone else. Because kids have more expendable free time, little money, and lack of vehicles, they experience cities by walking, biking, and ‘hanging around’. In Oregon City, there are a number of places that are explored by teens on a regular basis, most of which are located along the River’s edge.

The opinion of the site as it currently exists today varies from resident to resident; some people are enamored with the large, questionable relics of industrial processes, while others see them as an eyesore. Despite the opinion, most of this infrastructure is in working order, and can be ready for re-purposing. The processes that have occured on the site over the last 150 years have generally caused pollution and toxitiy to the site and the site’s surroundings.

However, this proposal focuses on recycling existing industrial infrastucture for a cleaner, sustainable economic an productive model.

RE-USE OF INDUSTRIAL FABRIC

TEXTURES AND MATERIALS

Currently, the site houses many interesting structures that are either hand-made or project variation in texture, relief, and material. Nooks and crevaces provide places for feral ecologies to sprout, giving the site a feeling of ‘ruins’.

Positive re-use and re-purpose of some of these site elements will be key to maintaining cultural, historical, aesthetic, and architectural character to the site. However, this needs to be done in a way that is purposeful, authentic, and non-synthetic.

VISION PLAN The vision for the plan attempts to encompass the five goals as outlined on the previous page. By splitting the site into four programmatic quadrants, a number of programs are able to co-exist on the site. In the northwest, a public park is proposed, with a public plaza adjacent. Here. stormwater from the site is filtered through a series of constructed wetland pools, creating a walk way that is designed to showcase the slowness of the moving water and provide an educational experience for users.

Behind this, two new buildings are propsed, to house commercial ‘flex’ spaces that would give priority to non-profit or start-up small companies. These areas can be accessed by the Plaza, which runs the length of the former Main Street. The southern half of the site provides an area for a service-learning style charter school with an adjacent ‘Sandbox’ area. This is an open area that is maintained by students as an open, exploratory area of industrial ruins. Adjacent to this, with controlled access, a soil-building farm and nutrient harvesting operation are in full-operation, turning soil from the site into healthy, quality soil for export, while also filtering excess nutrients from the river for harvest.

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A Place to Enjoy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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Riverview Trail Stewards’ Park: 56,065 sf Constructed Wetland Treatment Train Stewards’ Plaza Gateway Falls Trail Portage Route Pier Link to Canemah Trail

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A Place to Work

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Tying all of these four program areas together is a network of circulation which brings visitors to an dthrough the site, providing dynamic views of the River and the Falls along the way.

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10 Commercial/Mixed-Use: 28,800 sf 11 Commercial/Mixed-Use: 80,640 sf 12 Parking lot (surface): 80 stalls

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Stewards’ Soil Building Outdoor Soil Staging Area Struvite Cone Processor Sediment Drop Salvaged Site Material Storage Stewards’ Nutrient Harvesting Clackamas County Research Extension Railroad Depot

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Recreational lawn: 28,800 sf Willamette Stewards’ Charter School: 58,890 sf Willamette Community Theater Sandbox Exploration Area

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PHASE 1: Site Regeneration Phase 1 is dedicated to regenerating the site and the buildings for future uses. During this phase, all buildings that are not a part of the final vision are demolished. During this demolition stage, inportant and interesting architectural elements will be saved in the former Hawley building. Similarly, soil excavated from the site will be stored and combined with compost to build quality soil in the former Mill #4. Money made from this endeavor will be banked for future investment into other areas in the vision plan.

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A rigorous soil remediation strategy is employed during this phase, in order to clean up the soil of 150 years of industrial toxins and pollutants. The target pollutants are arsenic and copper, found throughout the site. Two different remediation strategies will be employed to accommodate differences in soil moisture and climatic conditions on the site.

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1 Riverview Trail: access to the Falls 2 Invasive species removal 3 Upland remediation strategy 4 Existing concrete altered for stormwater infiltration 5 Structural renovations 6 Lowland remediation strategy 7 Soil storage and remediation 8 Depot for transport of soil and nutrients 9 Nutrient harvest processing 10 Staging for excavated soil 11 Architectectural salvage 12 Research facilities 13 Existing buildings to be demolished (dashed lines)

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Phase 2: Community Amenity Phase 2 is about building community involvement and investment into the site. This is accomplished by creating a number of amenities that allow further access and enjoyment of the land and the River.

This includes the construction of the wetland park, a number of trails throughout, and the simple construction of a community theater (re-use of the foundations of the old Woolen Mill). Another community amenity provided during this phase is the addition of the pier and portage route from the lagoon, to the research facility, along the dam, and down the clarifyer. A surface parking lot is installed along the backside of the site, and site remediation continues throughout most areas.

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Stormwater wetland treatment Upland remediation continued Surface parking lot constructed Community theater opened Lowland remediation continued Recreational portage route established

Phase 3: Access for Kids Phase 3 is focused on providing full access for kids to use the Charter School and the Sandbox area. At this point, the soil has been remediated and is healthy for daily contact by kids, although additional areas are still in remediation. An additional path is created that completes the circuit around the Sandbox and provides an interesting path through the ruins of the site.

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Upland remdiation continues Charter school opens Lowland remediation complete Additional path to the falls is complete

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Phase 4: Full Site Build-Out Phase 4 demonstrates the full site build-out for Stewards’ Park. Here, two commercial buildings have been built, using the most up-to-date sustainable building practices. Extensive stormwater filtering through an infiltration bed, infiltration trenches, rain gardens, and treatment through the wetland treatment train all contribute to clean water entering the Willamette River watershed.

Also during this phase, the Sandbox really takes off: Kids have been building, evolving, and experimenting with interesting forms and programs in the Sandbox area.

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1 Non-profit/small businesses open in commercially zoned building 2 The Sandbox evolves

Phase 5+: Future Density Phase 5 represents areas of potential for the site, as a response to projections of future increases in density in the Portland metro area and within Oregon City.

Residential units can be built over the commercial buildings and parking lot, providing up to five more stories of housing. Because the stormwater has been over-designed in previous phases, the site can handle a variety of configurations without having to retro-fit constructed infrastructure.

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1 Additional stories are added above parking lot, dedicated to residentail units

PLANTING STRATEGY The proposed planting strategy is based around moisture conditions, topography which exist on the site currently, and play into the proposed vision plan.

There are three plant communities represented here, along with a formal or ornamental area. These plant communities are scrub-shrub wetland (n the Sandbox area), rocky outcrop, wet (in the upland park and commercial area) and mixed coniferous/ deciduous riparian forest along the shoreline.

PARK & TREATMENT: Formal verticality & canopy, macrophytes FUNCTION: Stormwater treatment (nutrients/TSS), shade, recreational space

LAWN: Gently sloped plane FUNCTION: Recreational space, space for organized school events/sports

Arbutus menziessi Pacific madrone Typha latifolia Broad-leaved cattail Carex aquatilis Leafy tussock sedge

Agrostis tenuis Common bent grass

SANDBOX: Shrub-scrub wetland FUNCTION: Hardy plants that can withstand periodic flooding Grindelia integrifolia Willamette Valley gumweed Saxifrage oregana Oregon Saxifrage Equisetum arvense Common horsetail

Additionally, the remediation strategies are outlined below, which will be necessary to implement during the initial phases of construction.

LOWLAND REMEDIATION: Hyperaccumulators with tolerance for wet conditions FUNCTION: Soil remediation (arsenic and copper), bright green color Pteris vittata Chinese Ladder Brake Agrostis varieties Common bent grass

UPLAND REMEDIATION: Hyperaccumulators with tolerance for drier conditions FUNCTION: Soil remediation (arsenic and copper) with visual interest, yellows Brassica juncea Indian Mustard

Helianthus annus Common sunflower

UPLAND: Rocky Outcrop (Wet) FUNCTION: Floral, visual interest, plants that grow in rocky/paved areas

SHORELINE: Mixed Coniferous/Deciduous Riparian Forest FUNCTION: Shoreline stabilization (woody plants)

Eriogonum nudum Barestem buckwheat Sedum oreganum Oregon stonecrop

Cornus sericae Red osier dogwood Amelanchier alnifolia Serviceberry Salix sessilifolia Soft-leaved willow Pteridium aquilinum Bracken fern

Elymus glaucus Blue wild rye Gilia capitata Bluefield gilia

NUTRIENT HARVESTING Nutrient harvesting is a key component to the economic and ecological sustainabiity of the site. The proposed system will use existing infrastructure to filter riverwater and return it back with considerablyl less pollutants. Through an inlet at the lagoon, water from the river will enter into a conduit that leads through the Hawley building, where a large sediement sump will filter heavier suspended solids.

From here, the water will travel to the existing Blue Heron cistern, which will be retrofited with a Struvite cone, specifically designed for intake of water high in nutrients. Within the cone, magnesium chloride is added to the water, combining with nitrogen and phosphates, and creates Struvite pellets, which can be harvested. These nutrient pellets can be added to soil or re-used as fertilizer in industrial or private applications. The pellets can be distributed off-site utilizing the existing railroad structure.

Nutrient processing Blue Heron Cistern: nutrient extraction (Struvite process) Hawley Building: large sediment drop Water from the lagoon (high in N and P) enters the site through existing inlet Water with 80% less N and P infiltrates through the Grotto, the Sandbox and eventually the Willamette River

Water is returned to the river with 80% less nutrients loaded. This water is left to be released through the path of historic tailraces.

NUTRIENT FLOW

1. Agricultural practices add P and N to the Willamette River Watershed

2. Water high in nutrients becomes eutrophic.

3. Nutrients are separated onsite through a Struvite process.

4b. Struvite pellets, which con- 5. These nutrients are added to 6. Products are shipped from tain P and N, are harvested. soil (some of which is built on- the site via existing railroad to site) to increase quality. plant nurseries or farms.

STORMWATER TREATMENT The stormwater treatment proposal is designed to treat stormwater as it falls on the site, while also providing for stochasity in future storm or flood events. Openings in the dam will alow for overflow from the lagoon to enter the stie during high water events. Because most of the buildings have been cleared from this area, along with grading and reintroduction of pervious ground cover, the damage created by high water events may be mitigated for small to medium-scaled events.

An infiltration bed is proposed to be installed under the existing Main Street. This will aide in the filtering and slowing of water as it hits pavement and strucutres along the bluff-side of the site.

A planted wetland treatment train will have sheet flow directed to it through a few infiltration trenches that are installed in the plaza. The three and fourcelled train will filter pollutants and suspended solits through macrophytes and hyperaccumulator species. This water will then be released back to the river through a series of outfalls.

Infiltration trench directs surface flow to constructed wetland Infiltration bed installed under Plaza Existing stormwater outlet (from Bluff watershed) Dam overflow Fewer obstructions = less damage during high water events

Outfalls to Willamette River 100-Year Floodline (Based on 1996 flood: 56’ above MSL) Constructed wetland pools with macrophyte species to collect suspended solids, nutrients, and toxins

CIRCULATION: RECREATION The proposed circulation network will provide for a variety of experiences for tourists and visitors from Oregon City or the surrounding area. Multiple paths allow full access to viewing the Falls from the existing platform, maintaining the rustic industrial feel and letting the Falls create the experience.

An overland portage route allows for recreational boaters to move through the site, or provides ways that these boaters can stop and enjoy the site. A regional trail connecing from Portland through the site to Canemah will add depth to the visitors and circulation system of the proposal.

Small business, possibly retail or restaurant To Canemah (existing path)

Path around wetland pools

Evolving events and sights

The Falls!

Overland portage route around the falls (near historic location)

Tourists and visitors from downtown Oregon City, Portland, or beyond

Potential for regional trail connection

CIRCULATION: VEHICULAR This proposal severely limits the access of personal vehicles to the site. Vehicles are only allowed to access the site from Main Street, which quickly turns into a surface parking lot, hidden behind the commercial spaces. This is also the location for community drop-off of compost to contribute to the soil-building operation.

Continued use of the existing rail is a key component to the economic and industrial model of the proposal. A depot is proposed to be re-worked and built in the existing location and will serve the industrial area. Potentiall, another depot could be built, adjacent to this, if the rail line adds high=speed commuter rail lines.

Continued rail use for light industrial (soil and nutrient) distribution (Total avoidance of trucks on-site)

Covered depot

Depot doubles as City drop-off area for compost donated to soil operation

Limited vehicle access to the site: parking behind commercial building only

CIRCULATION: STEWARDS Because active stewardship is one of the main components of this proposal, the circulation routes of the main users is key. Researchers and employees of the soil and nutrient harvesting operations can park in the parking lot and access the industrial area through the gateway. Employees and business owners can use the same entry method to the site.

Kids and teachers are to have full access to the Sandbox area and school, with points of controlled access at areas of compression.

Operable controlled entry to research and industrial area Commercial buildings extend Main Street into the site

Gateway serves as entry to ‘kids’ area and signals controlled access areas Students design/build paths throughout sandbox

Shallower-sloped area provides access to the water’s edge Viewing platform for the Falls

Researchers and employees of Stewards’ Nutrient Harvesting and Soil Building

Willamette Stewards Charter School high school students

Business owners, office workers, customers

SPATIAL TYPOLOGIES A number of spatial typologies were identified through the design process. These typologies utilize the existing infrastructure, mainly the adaptive reuse of the oldest masonry walls throughout the site: the Woolen Mill foundation walls. However, as typologieis, these studies demonstrate how use of architectural elements salvaged during the early phases of site development can be used in the Sandbox area, by kids, to create spaces that meet specific program needs.

By punching through existing walls and enclosing spaces, areas of gathering can be revealed.

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OUTDOOR ROOMS

SPATIAL TYPOLOGIES Re-evaluation of volumes and canopies throughout the site can provide opportunities for informal performance spaces that are flexible and have character.

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VOLUME AND CANOPY

SPATIAL TYPOLOGIES These walls, which currently are growing mosses, lichen, and other pioneer vegetative species, can also be a medium for hanging or displaying work, potentially inspired by the site.

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SURFACE ATTACHMENTS

SPATIAL TYPOLOGIES By leaving specific areas to be defined by their main users (kids), layered experiences are allowed to build off of the existing industrial layers. These can open up opportunities for exploration, play, or quiet contemplation.

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LAYERED EXPERIENCES