The waterfront bowl south of the Hawthorne Bridge is set for a redevelopment project, giving Portland another access point to the Willamette River.  by Taylor Griggs For years, parks and river access enthusiasts have looked at the Tom McCall Bowl and seen unrealized potential. The bowl, a strip of beach located just south of the Hawthorne Bridge at the tail end of the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, is one of the only places a person can dip their toes in the Willamette River within the Portland city limits. But most Portlanders don’t see it as much of a destination, except when attending the annual Waterfront Blues Festival and the late, great, Big Float event.  That perception could soon change. On March 20, Metro awarded Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) a $750,000 planning and development grant to redevelop the waterfront bowl, setting up an intergovernmental agreement between the agencies for work on the project. PP&R will also partner with the organizations Human Access Project and Portland Waterfront Pavilion, which have been working to make this project come to life for years.  “This is something the Human Access Project has dreamed would happen since we started 15 years ago,” Willie Levenson, the organization’s ringleader, told the Mercury. “We’re hopeful other people in Portland will be excited about it too.”  If there’s one thing Levenson and the Human Access Project are known for, it’s getting people in Portland hyped about the Willamette River. Levenson has worked for years to encourage and create opportunities for people to get in the water. Recently, he was instrumental in developing the new, popular swimming docks on the Eastbank Esplanade and in Cathedral Park and has been working with Oregon State University researchers on mitigating harmful algae blooms that proliferate in the river, thanks to the Ross Island lagoon. (He also organized the Big Float, an annual summer float and beach dance party that ran from 2011 to 2022.)  In other words, Levenson isn’t single-minded when it comes to the Willamette. But he thinks redeveloping the Tom McCall Bowl into a “world-class, toes-in-the-water” park could be one of the biggest river game-changers yet.  Levenson has led multiple projects to clear the Tom McCall Bowl of rocks. Here's what it looked like before...willie levenson And after cleaning the rocks. willie Levenson According to a parks bureau press release, the $750,000 Metro grant, which is funded by the agency’s construction excise tax, will start an “ambitious project spanning two and a half years.” The city will launch a national design competition, inviting the best and brightest to “craft innovative visions for a revitalized park space that will serve as a hub for outdoor entertainment and cultural activities along the river.”  Project leaders have some parameters for what they want the design to incorporate. Initial concept designs from the Human Access Project and Portland Waterfront Pavilion show a site with a significant beachfront, as well as an outdoor stage for music and cultural events. Eventually, decision-makers may have to weigh the balance between the site’s purpose as a riverfront park with a stage, versus an outdoor performance venue with some river access.  One concept for the park, produced by Human Access Project.Human Access Project Peter Johnson, director of Portland Waterfront Pavilion, told the Mercury he has also been interested in developing this site for years, first tapping then-Commissioner Sam Adams about the concept back in the mid-aughts. Johnson said after years of little progress, he’s optimistic the project will take off now—despite lingering bureaucratic challenges, and city budget woes impacting the parks bureau.  Johnson emphasized the potential for a public-private partnership to streamline the development process, and provide potential sources of outside funding.  “We've heard a lot that the city is going to do this, it’s going to do that, and then we end up not doing anything,” Johnson told the Mercury. “Our role in this process is to guide it and ensure it doesn’t get bogged down in bureaucracy or too much process and procedure.”  A rendering of the potential site from Portland Waterfront Pavilion.portland waterfront pavilion But it’s still early, and there’s time to figure out how the plan will be funded. Both Levenson and Johnson said the Metro grant is a big first step for the project, and will ideally provide an opportunity for community involvement and building interest.  “When we’re going through hard things as a city, it’s good to have something to chip away at,” Levenson said. “We want this to ignite the pilot light of Portland’s imagination.”  Johnson said he thinks, if done the right way, the project could help change people’s perspective on Portland.  “We’ve been the whipping post for so long. It’s been tough,” he said. “But when cities’ backs are against the wall, it’s their time to shine. I think this is a project that will help propel Portland forward as a city of the future.”  This perspective is driving other Central City projects forward, too. In addition to having a different relationship with the Willamette River, Portlanders also seem eager for revitalization projects, which have proven popular with residents as well as influential business coalitions.  Just north on Naito Parkway from the Tom McCall Bowl, the Steel Bridge Skatepark is in the works, attracting interest from skate aficionados as well as those who have never stepped foot on a board. Foodies are hyped about the upcoming James Beard Public Market, which also promises to be a source of downtown tourism and economic revival. Meanwhile, on the other side of the river, the OMSI district plan seeks to restore a Tribal presence on the Willamette, creating a learning and gathering place on the river informed by Indigenous perspectives.  As far as the Tom McCall Bowl goes, Levenson told the Mercury that while the redevelopment plan is a long time in the making, he thinks it couldn’t have happened any other way.  “When we started our work 15 years ago, Portland wasn’t ready for the conversation about redeveloping the riverfront bowl. There’s been enough cultural movement now that we’re ready for this next big thing,” he said. “The hope is by doing this, and getting people to have positive investments in this river space, it’ll catalyze and make other riverfront spaces more popular. When we invest in the river edge, people respond very well to it.” ...read more read less