Summary of input from our first meeting on September 13th:
The meetings take place in the main parish hall at the Fountain Community Church on Broadway and Halleck, right next to the plaza, thanks to Rick Quall and his parish.

Goals for 1st Meeting:
Define how the local community uses space now and desired uses
Share historical use of site and historical views of the district
Brainstorm existing assets, liabilities and challenges
Provide inspiration for further meetings

We presented some context for why this project is happening. This included discussion around the benefits of public gathering places. We also showed videos from City Repair in Portland and their approach to reclaiming intersections in neighborhoods as mini-parks.
Reasons generated by the group included:

• Meeting neighbors
• Health
• Interaction to create safer, happier neighborhoods
• The Fountain Plaza has the potential to be a gateway and hub that can act as a source for neighborhood pride and identity, as a meeting place, and as a place to pause, rest, eat, and be merry.

Pre-existing Assets of the Fountain Plaza:
-The big maple tree and the cherry trees
-The sound of water
-A sense of open space with the 3 streets surrounding the plaza and wide open southern exposure make the space feel bigger than it really is
-The close proximity to the businesses, bus stop, church, ...
-The Monroe Street crosswalk and main intersection crosswalks
-History of the place as a watering trough for horses coming and going from the historic Meridian plank road
-A variety of levels give an opportunity for varied topography while still be very accessible to all people
-Retaining wall around tree doubles as a bench
-Power and water already are available on-site
-USGS monument

Pre-existing Liabilities or Undesirable Aspects of the Plaza:
-Hedges seem to wall in the NW corner and make it feel crowded
-Not much strategy to the landscaping
-Too much concrete
-Large support tower that is a guy for the high-tension power lines
-Benches are too far from the water
-Traffic speed
-Water feature seems unsafe for play
-Southerly wind off of the bay can be very high
-Split/double sidewalk seems unnecessary

People would like to see:
-Historic lighting that matches what was recently installed on Broadway
-Sculpture/public art
-Night-time efficient LED lighting for the big maple tree
-Message board
-Veggie/community swapping station
-Shelter for bus stop
-Kid-friendly installations like permanent hopscotch, tic tac toe, safe art to interact with and climb on, etc.
-Incorporation of the historical aspect of the site (horses and plank road)
-Extension of the tree's retaining wall to make more bench
-Power generation on-site to run lighting
-Keeping the site simple and to stay with the more formal historical theme

What would YOU like to see? Email us your comments hereor come to one of the next meetings

Meeting 2: Sept 27th - Thurs - 7-9 p.m.
Focus on the Fountain: what do people envision? How would they like to see the fountain re-created?

Meeting 3: Oct. 11 - Thurs - 7-9 p.m.
Overall Site Design for the Fountain Plaza - How would the community like to see the entire plaza re-created.

Meeting 4: Nov 7 - Weds - 7-9 p.m.
Finalize the vision by showing 3 different possible plans and taking feedback to refine the final vision.

We will make the final 3 plans available on RE Store and RE Sources websites and present our final concept at neighborhood association meetings in November/December. After the community-based design is completed at the end of 2007, funds will be sought to finance redevelopment of the site.

Please contact Jason Darling, RE Store Outreach & Marketing Manager via email at jason(at)re-store.org with questions or input for the process until November 7th. If you don't have email, call him at his home office: 734-7161.

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