The James Beard Public Market is a proposed public market in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. It is named after

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 23, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside, ...

, a Portland-born chef and cookbook writer. The market was planned to be located at the west end of the

Morrison Bridge The Morrison Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. Completed in 1958, it is the third bridge at approximately the same site to carry that name. It is one of the most heavily used bridges in Portland. It ...

in downtown Portland, in what are currently parking lots, but this site was dropped in November 2016 after concerns over pedestrian accessibility due to the

bridgehead In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...

ramps. The developer, Melvin Mark Development, still plans to build a 17-story building at the same site. Original designs for the market called for it to have two halls, totaling , along with 60 permanent and 30 to 40 temporary stalls for food vendors. Design for the market is being led by the Norwegian architectural firm

Snøhetta Snøhetta is the highest mountain in the Dovrefjell mountain range in Norway. At , it is the highest mountain in Norway outside the Jotunheimen range, making it the 24th highest peak in Norway, based on a topographic prominence cutoff. At , ...

History

Part of the originally proposed site of the market abuts

The Oregonian Printing Press Park ''The Oregonian'' Printing Press Park, or simply Printing Press Park, is a triangular 1,000-square-foot park on the southeastern corner of the intersection of Southwest First Avenue and Morrison Street in Portland, Oregon, United States. The green ...

, where the first copy of ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'' was printed in December 1850. The original site for the James Beard Public Market is located near the former site of the

Portland Public Market The Portland Public Market was a public market in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1933 at a widely advertised cost of $1 million ($ million in ). Controversial and ambitious, it was intended to replace the Carroll Public Market, c ...

, which was the largest public market in the United States when it was built in December 1933 for $1 million. It was located on what is now Tom McCall Waterfront Park in between the

Hawthorne Bridge The Hawthorne Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical-lift bridge in operation in the United States and the o ...

and Morrison Bridge. Its construction enabled removal of the on-street Carroll Public Market. After closing in 1942 due to lack of demand, it was later used as the headquarters of ''

The Oregon Journal ''The Oregon Journal'' was Portland, Oregon's daily afternoon newspaper from 1902 to 1982. The ''Journal'' was founded in Portland by C. S. "Sam" Jackson, publisher of Pendleton, Oregon's ''East Oregonian'' newspaper, after a group of Portlander ...

'' from 1948 to 1961. Demolition occurred in 1969.

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Th ...

sold of property to Melvin Mark Companies and the James Beard Public Market Foundation in June 2012 for $10.43 million.

Design

The market is expected to cost $30 million to construct, with the funds coming from public donations and Multnomah County. According to the market's director, it will include solar panels and green roofing, be divided into stalls, and have a mezzanine level for education and cooking classes. Portland city officials considered removing or modifying the cloverleaf ramps that run from the

Naito Parkway Naito Parkway is a major thoroughfare of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was formerly known as Front Avenue and Front Street and was renamed in 1996 to honor Bill Naito. It runs between SW Barbur Boulevard and NW Front Avenue, and adjac ...

, while the market proposed moving the ramps to Morrison and Stark streets, allowing easier pedestrian access from the waterfront. However, the market and the city failed to reach a decision on the ramps, leading the market to abandon the waterfront site in November 2016. Other sites near the

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI, ) is a science and technology museum in Portland, Oregon, United States. It contains three auditoriums, including a large-screen theatre, planetarium, and exhibition halls with a variety of hands- ...

and in the

South Waterfront The South Waterfront is a high-rise district under construction on former brownfield industrial land in the South Portland neighborhood south of downtown Portland, Oregon, U.S. It is one of the largest urban redevelopment projects in the Unite ...

are under consideration as alternatives. The initial design for the market was unveiled on June 25, 2015 at the

. Facing Naito Parkway and the Willamette River, there would have been of storefronts, with a facade of glass doors to allow outdoor seating during good weather. A terraced rooftop garden with views of Mount Hood was also planned.

References

{{coord, 45.519, -122.672, display=title Buildings and structures in Portland, Oregon Economy of Portland, Oregon Food markets in the United States Food retailers Market halls Proposed buildings and structures in Oregon

History

Design

See also

References