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City shows two Federal Street plaza designs; open house set for Feb. 12 at Freebridge
Summary
City staff presented two concept designs for a proposed Federal Street plaza, described trade-offs including shade, maintenance and parking loss, and invited public comment at an open house scheduled for Feb. 12 at Freebridge. The ad hoc committee aims to finalize a design and produce cost estimates for budgeting.
City Manager Matthew Cleves updated the council on Feb. 10 about two design concepts for a proposed Federal Street plaza and announced a public open house to solicit feedback on the options.
Cleves said the ad hoc committee and consultants (Walker Macy) have produced two schemes — described in the staff presentation as “River City” and “Basalt” — that explore different uses of shade structures, seating, water-feature ideas and a “bike hub” coordinated with the Columbia Gorge Scenic Bike Trail. Cleves invited the public to an open house at Freebridge on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and noted an online survey is available on the project webpage.
The presentation emphasized that creating the plaza will require vacating and closing a block of Federal Street and that the project is expected to remove some existing parking near Second Street to make space for the plaza. City materials showed options for movable seating, shaded pergolas or canopies, non‑standing “splash pad” features designed for emergency access, event space with up to about 4,000 square feet for small events, and an integrated bike hub intended as a visitor amenity.
Cleves said committee members are weighing long-term maintenance and sustainability concerns alongside shade and tree canopy goals. The ad hoc committee includes Councilors Dan Richardson and Ben Ring, local business owners and urban renewal and park board members; Steve Light, owner of Freebridge, is hosting the open house. Councilors and staff noted they have held multiple committee meetings and encouraged broad community participation in the upcoming open house and survey.
Cleves said the committee hopes to land on a final design within about a month so cost estimates can be prepared for the upcoming budget process. The council was asked to help publicize the open house and the online survey to gather community feedback.
