Gem of Portland

Tanner Springs Park is an urban pocket park in downtown Portland, Oregon in the Pearl District. The uniqueness of this park is its ability to fuse together design elements with historical context to really give this city park, a personality of its own. Before Portland into fruition, this area was boggy wetlands with Tanner Creek running through the center. Thus for the redesign of this park, looked to evoke the naturalistic wetlands with high native grasses and native trees such as: Oregon Oak, red alder and big leaf maple. From an environmental standpoint most of the newly planted trees were transplanted from dilapidated areas around the city. Along the east side of the park, old railroad tracks were salvaged and joined together to form an artistic wall with painted glass interspersed throughout the wall. The raised boardwalk that cuts through the “wetland” water feature helps to bring residents and visitors to the edge of the naturalistic features of this park. All together Tanner Springs Park is a proud symbol of the progressive design approach that the city Portland strives for.