City Announces Congress Square Redesign Finalists
The City’s Planning & Urban Development Department has selected four design teams as finalists for the Congress Square Redesign project. Of twelve submissions received for the design contract,these four will proceed to round two of the selection process. Round two will include interviews with the selection committee, a site visit, and a public presentation.
Amenities at the revitalized Congress Square Park.
The chosen design team’s work will include developing a schematic design for the entire Congress Square, in coordination with an artist who will create a concept for public art. The artist selection for the public art commission is still under review and will be announced in the spring.
The four finalist design teams are (in alphabetical order):
- CRJA – IBI (Boston, MA)
- Michael Boucher Landscape Architecture (Freeport, ME)
- Terry DeWan & Associates with Olin Studio (Yarmouth, ME and Philadelphia, PA)
- WRT (Philadelphia, PA)
The finalists will speak at a public forum on Wednesday, May 4th to be held in the Portland Museum of Art auditorium from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event will be free and open to the public, though RSVP will be required for capacity reasons, and will include a presentation from each finalist and a question and answer session.
An online survey will also be available to gather community input about the finalists. Stakeholders and the general public will be invited to provide feedback and participate throughout the design process.
Visit the project webpage for updates and links to the applications: www.portlandmaine.gov/1113/Congress-Square-Redesign.
The Planning & Urban Development Department, in partnership with the Portland Public Art Committee and the Friends of Congress Square Park, released an open call for landscape designers and visual artists in December to create concepts for the Congress Square Redesign project. Responses to the open call were collected until January 28th.
The City currently has funds to develop schematic level concepts for the Congress Square intersection and public artwork. The concepts developed by the winning design team and artist will be used to help raise money to implement the project.
The project team anticipates the project, if approved for implementation, will require significant fundraising efforts. The City is also pursuing grant opportunities to fund the endeavor.
