O'Bryant Square, a city park and popular hangout spot for food cart patrons in Southwest Portland, will be closed "indefinitely."



Parks and transportation officials issued a joint statement Monday morning saying the park would be fenced off immediately because of structural concerns related to the city's parking garage beneath the brick plaza.



"After hearing the expert opinions of engineers who have studied this facility, we feel it is necessary to close off access to O'Bryant Square Park and the O'Bryant Square SmartPark Garage," Transportation Director Leah Treat and Parks & Recreation Director Mike Abbate said in a joint statement. "This closure will ensure the public is safe while we consider long-term options."

All options are on the table, according to transportation spokesman Dylan Rivera, including rehabbing the garage or demolishing the structure altogether.

"We need more time and information," he said.

The urban plaza is a popular gathering place for rallies and public marches and has been known as "Needle Park" or "Paranoid Park" in the past because of illegal drug use and other activities.

Sgt. Chris Burley, the Portland Police Bureau's public information officer, said cops responded to the public square on 112 different occasions from March 1, 2017 to March 1, 2018.

"While officers have responded to the location regarding multiple calls for service over the preceding year time span," Burley said in an email, "officers acknowledge this location is a very visible location that has a high volume of traffic because of its location."

The closure comes at an inopportune time for the neighborhood, according to nearby business-owner and spokesman for the loosely-affiliated group Friends of O'Bryant Square, Steven Lien.

Lien, who owns a men's underwear and swimsuit business, said the park and its underground garage are critical to the neighborhood.



The largest food cart pod in the city is steps away, and hungry patrons often step into nearby businesses. "In the summer time it's one of the busiest parks per square foot in the city," Lien said.

Parking is already tight in the West End neighborhood, he said.

Construction at another city SmartPark on Southwest 10th Avenue just began and will continue until 2019, with two floors of the building's six parking areas closed at any one time. The building has 800 parking stalls overall.

"This couldn't come at a worse time," Lien said.

He's concerned that the city has no plan for the park.

O'Bryant Square Park is a half-acre site bordered on the east and west by Southwest Park and Ninth avenues and Southwest Stark and Washington streets to the north and south.

The city received the property as a donation in 1971, and its original design featured rose bushes and a bronze fountain in the shape of a rose, according to the city's website. The park opened in 1973 and is named for Hugh Donaldson O'Bryant, the city's first mayor.

Portland runs a 100-space underground parking garage at the property, and it closed the garage on Sept. 4, 2017, because of safety concerns.

At the time, the Transportation Bureau said the closure wouldn't affect the park itself.

But a more thorough analysis found "deficiencies in joists, walls, columns and footings that lead officials to believe it would not be safe to allow crowds of people to use the park."

Parks officials say there is no current plan for what to do with the park. "We will be working on a long-term plan for the park in the future," spokesman Mark Ross said in a statement.



-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen



