To: Portland City Council
Petition to Keep Congress Square Park Public
Victory! The creator of this petition declared the campaign a success. You can still sign the petition to show support.
We believe it is in the best interest of the city, the community, and visitors, to maintain Congress Square Park as public and to proceed with a redesign of the park. The option to sell the park to a private developer should be taken off the table completely.
Why is this important?
For the past year, the four councilors of the Housing and Community Development Committee (HCDC) have been hearing proposals from Rockbridge Capitol LLC, a national investment corporation specializing in renovating and then reselling hotels for a return on their investment. Rockbridge has offered two proposals to build upon Congress Square Park, both of which have been rejected. A third proposal has been promised to the HCDC since August of 2012 and has yet to materialize. Meanwhile the city-formed committee, the Congress Square Redesign Study Group (CSRSG) has been waiting in the wings to continue on with its work to revitalize the park.
The goal of this petition is to prove public support for keeping Congress Square Park a public park. This proof will be presented to the HDCD to persuade them to drop the negotiations with Rockbridge and let the CSRSG continue on with the redesign on the park.
Congress Square Park is the only public park in Portland's downtown arts district. The city's own vision plan refers to it as "the Heart of the Arts district". Never in the history of Portland have we sold one of our public parks. Let's not start now.
The goal of this petition is to prove public support for keeping Congress Square Park a public park. This proof will be presented to the HDCD to persuade them to drop the negotiations with Rockbridge and let the CSRSG continue on with the redesign on the park.
Congress Square Park is the only public park in Portland's downtown arts district. The city's own vision plan refers to it as "the Heart of the Arts district". Never in the history of Portland have we sold one of our public parks. Let's not start now.