EVENTS AT THE SQUARE

May 23

Cricket Campus Rail Jam Tour

May 25

Urban Assault Ride

June 6-22

Hoffman Construction Company Presents Festival of Flowers

June 21

Shimano Coasting Tour

To view the Square's Full Event Schedule click here.

Hoffman Construction Company Presents Festival of Flowers - Urban Meadow Designed by the Committee on the Environment

The Festival of Flowers celebration officially opens next month in the heart of downtown Portland! This year's design, created by The American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment, will blend together wildflowers, vegetables, trees, ornamental grasses, colorful annuals and a life-size living canopy made of bamboo!

Each year Pioneer Courthouse Square works with a range of partners to bring this beloved annual event to Downtown. Since the Festival’s start in 1984, Oregon’s own Reinecker Nursery has been the primary plant supplier to make this colorful installation possible year after year. Reinecker Nursery has 80,000 square feet of environmentally controlled growing space in greenhouses located on a 6-acre farm in Dilley, just south of Forest Grove. The nursery specializes in 4” annuals including impatiens, pansies, marigolds, sunflowers and herbs among many others.

Also participating in this year’s installation is Loen Nursery who will provide broadleaf and deciduous shrubs, trees and grasses. J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., specializing in shade, flowering and ornamental trees, is also providing 4’ vine maple and 6’ dogwood trees.

May is Transportation Safety Awareness Month

Pioneer Courthouse Square is proud to partner with the Oregon Department of Transportation and its partners around the state as they work to remind the public to be aware of their surroundings and take action to stay safe. Just in time for Oregon’s driving, riding, walking, cycling and highway construction season Governor Ted Kulongoski has once again proclaimed May as “Transportation Safety Awareness” month in Oregon.

Whether you are walking, bicycling, riding or driving, you’ll most likely see some reminder to be safe. It might be orange cones indicating a work zone; it might be a new sign about Oregon’s Move Over law; or it might be a life-size banner in Pioneer Courthouse Square stating, ‘Slow down. Better roads ahead.’ Whatever the message, the goal is the same: improve safety for Oregonians and visitors to our state.

The Governor’s proclamation offers support for safety programs that are helping reduce property damage, injuries and fatalities. In 2008, Oregon is experiencing vehicle fatalities at the slowest rate in 12 years. Because everyone agrees the best rate would be no rate at all, safety advocates continue to raise awareness and call for action in a variety of areas, such as using safety belts and child restraints, controlling speed, driving courteously, avoiding impaired driving, and slowing down in work zones.
   

PUBLIC SPACE PARTNERS
Pioneer Courthouse Square has generously lent support to the following organizations in the research, development and revitalization of public spaces:

Commonwealth Historic Resource Management Limited
Vancouver, British Columbia

Downtown Denver Partnership
Denver, CO

Fordham Plaza
Brooklyn, NY

Museum of the City
Portland, OR

We wish these organizations great success and look forward to on-going partnerships with them!

Recent Successes

Start! Walking Day
For the second year in a row, the American Heart Association returned to the Square in an effort to raise awareness about the benefits of walking at work. Attendees were encouraged to put on their walking shoes and take steps to a healthier lifestyle with National Start! Walk Day!  This national movement encourages all employers and their employees to take up walking and other healthy habits as part of their daily routine to live longer, stronger lives.

Portland Butt Hunt
Recently, Leadership Portland, Six in the City and SOLV partnered to start the first Portland Butt Hunt which officially kicked-off at Pioneer Courthouse Square. As part of the annual SOLV IT 2008 Earth Day project, community volunteers worked together to pick up over 25,000 cigarette butts around downtown Portland in only two hours.

Earth Day Rally
The Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club recently held a rally and press conference at the Square to raise the profile of climate change and renewable energy in the 2008 elections. Featured speaker Governor Ted Kulongoski, along with Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, urged the crowd to take a look at their daily routine and encouraged them to walk or bike to work in honor of Earth Day.
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Yom Hashoah, Day of Remembrance
The American Jewish Committee recently held their annual Yom Hashoah, Day of Remembrance at the Square. This day has been set aside to remember the victims of the Holocaust. The Portland Community gathered to remember these victims as their names were read aloud by students, police officers, religious leaders, politicians and community members alike.  

Million Marijuana March
Oregon NORML was back at the Square to kick-off the 9th Annual Million Marijuana March. In an effort to educate the community about hemp and marijuana issues, March participants gathered at the Square and then proceeded through the streets of downtown Portland. Upon conclusion of the march, participants enjoyed live music, food and a variety of craft vendors.

Bike to Work Day Breakfast
In celebration of National Bike Month, the City of Portland hosted its annual Bike to Work Day celebration at Pioneer Courthouse Square. Bicyclists from around the city gathered for free breakfast, maps and cycling resources. Attendees of this event also learned the importance of cycle safety with a large truck onsite to show bicyclists the blind spots that truck drivers face.

Steps for Life
The Pregnancy Resource Center returned to the Square this year to host their annual Steps for Life walk. This year, over 1,000 people participated in this family-friendly, two-mile walkathon to raise money for the Pregnancy Resource Centers.

TRUSTEE MEETING CALENDAR

Facilities Committee
Thursday, June 12th 8:30am
Pioneer Courthouse Square

Executive Committee
Thursday, May 22nd 8:30am
Pioneer Courthouse Square

Board of Trustees Quarterly meeting
Tuesday, July 29th 11:30am
Hilton Portland & Executive Tower

Harriet Beal Cormack; Helen Blair Day, ACME Business Consulting; Julia Brim-Edwards, Nike, Inc.; Dr. Kim Burchiel, Oregon Health and Science University; Thomas Corry, Bank of America; Wayne Drinkward, Hoffman Construction; Matthew J. Felton, Felton Properties, Inc.; Paul Frisch, U.S. Bancorp Equipment Finance, Inc.; Paul Fry, KGW Northwest NewsChannel 8; Joyce Furman; Brad Hutton, Hilton Hotels Corporation; J.E. Isaac, Portland Trail Blazers; Philip A. Kalberer, The Kalberer Company; Kirsten Kays, Nordstrom; Sharon Kitzhaber, Kitzhaber Communications; Kevin Kohnstamm, The Party Pros; Peter A. Krainock, American Water Works International; Thomas Lauderdale, Pink Martini; Dan Lavey, The Gallatin Group; J.Douglas Macy, Walker Macy; Steven S. Maxwell, KeyBank; R. Scott Montgomery, Sequoia Development Co.; Chet Orloff, Oregon History Works; Tim Parks, Ball Janik LLP; William Peressini, Stimson Lumber Co.; Wanda Rosenbarger, Lloyd Center; Commissioner Dan Saltzman, City of Portland; Tad Savinar, Tad Savinar Studio; Chief Rosanne Sizer, Portland Police Bureau; Patrick F. Stickel, The Oregonian; Vanessa Sturgeon, TMT Development; John Svilarich, Volkswagen of America Inc.; John von Schlegell, Endeavour Capital; Mary Wilcox, Capital Realty Corp.; Mark Zertanna, Macy's Northwest

HONORARY
Stanley Geffen, Geffen Mesher & Co.; Greg Goodman, City Center Parking; Steve Janik, Ball Janik LLP; Melvin Mark, Jr., Melvin Mark Companies (Founding President); Tom Moyer, TMT Development Co.; Doug Obletz, Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Inc.; John Russell, Russell Development; The Rev. Stephen Schneider, Grace Memorial Episcopal Church; Gordon Sondland, The Aspen Companies; Kerry Tymchuk, Senator Gordon Smith's Office; David Zier, Melvin Mark Companies