The City of Portland hosted its second open house for the North Parks Blocks Extension project last night.
As we shared back in February, the Parks & Recreation bureau is looking to extend the existing linear park that exists between W Burnside and NW Glisan, north to Hoyt (behind Pacific Northwest College of Art, which is why some folks refer to this as the “PNCA Block). The project looks to design a new, 30,000 square foot park. It was spurred by the Broadway Corridor development and will also be a key piece of the future Green Loop.
Last night under tents in an outdoor plaza outside PNCA, design consultants and city staff unveiled three new design options. The designs were gleaned in large part from over 500 public comments received at the first open house on February 29th. The new renderings give us our clearest view yet of how we might some day pedal our bikes from the North Park Blocks, through the Broadway Corridor, and onto the western end of the Broadway Bridge at NW Lovejoy.
The design team shared three options at last night’s event: Option A, Quilt; Option B, Table; and Option C, Clearing. Each option consists of landscaping, infrastructure, and other elements that could help define three blocks of park space between NW Glisan and NW Johnson (which will be extended through the site as part of this plan).
Check them out below:
Option A: “Extend a quilt and celebrate”
Option B: “Spread a table and invite”
Option C: “Reach a clearing and congregate”
Learn more about each option in the presentation graphics shared at last night’s open house.
If you have feedback, stay tuned to the project website for news of upcoming open houses and surveys. You can also contact the project manager via email at gary.datka@portlandoregon.gov. Construction is set to begin in 2026 with an anticipated opening in spring 2027.