[Below reprinted from end of year letter from PBG]
Dear Friends,
First of all, thank you for your donations, letters, and volunteer energy for the Portland Botanical Gardens (PBG). Your support is what has brought us this far.
The response to PBG’s April 22, 2024 announcement of a Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) for the 59 acre McCormick & Baxter (M&B) Superfund site has been inspiring. The prospect of a major public botanical garden in the ‘City of Gardens,’ along with expanded access on Portland’s iconic riverfront, has intrigued and excited many. We look forward to involving you further as this process unfolds.
McCormick & Baxter Update
Currently, PBG continues its rigorous due diligence, feasibility research and fundraising, key steps among many before a purchase of the M&B site. PBG studied M&B over the last few years and learned much of the site history, community interests, and environmental conditions. We learned enough to know there was great potential for locating the garden on the site.
Only since April, however, has PBG been able to initiate technical due diligence and begin preliminary discussions with key stakeholders.
- We documented the site’s existing conditions, initiated a botanical inventory, and learned about key operations and maintenance requirements.
- We’ve met with design, planning and environmental engineering professionals, and assembled an amazing team to guide this project forward (see below).
- We have been meeting with key neighbors and potential partners, and have led a number of site tours.
- We have refined cost estimates, and are following DEQ guidelines to secure a Prospective Purchase Agreement (required for the M&B site).
We are now sharing some due diligence work products and key information about M&B on the PBG website (see “Project Information”), and we will be adding and updating as we move forward.
PBG Team Update
PBG has assembled an outstanding professional team to work through the due diligence and planning process.
- Allied Works, a Portland based and internationally renowned architecture firm, completed a preliminary Site & Research report and we have shared drafts with regulatory agencies and key stakeholders. An updated version will be available on the website soon. See comparison overlays of other botanical gardens below: a common step in Allied Works design process, the images show the M&B land portion, comprising about 42 acres; actual site size is 59 acres, with up to 18 acres of wetland and submerged lands.
- LND LAB, led by award-winning landscape architect Michael Geffel, is partnering with PBG to create a research structure for the non-profit, so that students, researchers, and community members interested in conducting research at M&B can access historical records, monitoring reports, and operational infrastructure. LND LAB has also provided excellent Existing Conditions and Botanical Inventory maps (see example below), and is working closely with the other members to refine conceptual schematics as needed. Michael is also currently serving as a liaison to three University of Oregon Graduate students who are focusing their independent master’s projects on the development of a botanical garden and public greenway at M&B.
- Soul Street Consulting, led by Amira Streeter, has been retained to develop PBG’s Community Engagement Plan for the M&B site. Required by DEQ and EPA and central to PBG’s development philosophy, the engagement plan will further connect PBG to community, Tribal and other stakeholder interests. Amira’s rich background in environmental justice and government affairs correlates directly with the complex and diverse community interests in North Portland and around the M&B site.
- Landau Associates have been retained to complete a required Environmental Site Assessment (a technical review of the site’s pollution and cleanup history). With a long history working on Superfund sites and in M&B vicinity, PBG is excited for their expertise and guidance as it evaluates constraints and opportunities with the heavily engineered site.
- Kittleson & Associates has been retained to guide PBG’s transportation research and conceptual planning, and brings over three decades experience working with and near the M&B site. Kittleson will help PBG in its transportation planning, with an open eye to multi-modal access (foot, bike, boat and rail) and strategies to keep vehicle traffic to the site to a minimum. Like most botanical gardens in major cities, PBG is also looking into the feasibility of a shuttle system.
- NNA Landscape Architecture, led by board member Ben Ngan, continues to provide conceptual landscape planning and design services and helped render early schematics expressing PBG’s proposed use of the M&B site. They helped create the initial Conceptual Schematic shared back in April.
- Cistus Design Nursery (owned by PBG early founder and renowned botanist, Sean Hogan) has supported PBG from the beginning, and continues to provide innovative horticultural expertise, hospitality and strategic meeting spaces, and plant material and resources as needed. Cistus has also generously offered greenhouse space to PBG for plant propagation.
- Green Gables Design and Restoration, owned by PBG board chair Karl Rapfogel and Narada Fairbanks, provides pro bono pre-construction advice, office improvements, and is sponsoring certain due diligence components.
- Carson Bowler (Law Office of Carson Bowler) and Greg Fullem (Schwabe) have represented PBG over the past two years, and continue to provide inspired legal services as the project has evolved. Each brings over 25 years of environmental and commercial real estate law (respectively) to the PBG project, and we are extremely grateful for their work.
These firms and individuals are helping PBG determine feasibility around a host of potential designs, configurations, and constraints. They are also preparing PBG to work closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including government, Tribal, and local community interests.
What Next
PBG has focused this past year on study and potential acquisition of the McCormick & Baxter Superfund site. Many of the exciting volunteer and pilot programs (Plant Strolls and PBG online store to name a few) have been put on hold until the property is purchased.
However, because of your contributions we have been able to raise over $135,000 this year, conduct intricate and timely due diligence steps, and build PBG organizational capacity for an even stronger 2025.
The important work ahead includes more stakeholder and community engagement, engineering studies, site design, planning, and volunteer involvement. The estimate to complete all due diligence is over $500,000; to purchase the property and build the garden will be considerably more.
Again, thank you for your interest and support of PBG. We look forward to sharing more information and hearing from you in the new year.
Matthew Taylor
Executive Director