Newberg Cultural District
March, 2012 The Newberg City Council and the Chehalem Park and Recreation Board are considering the Newberg Cultural District Master Plan. The CPRD Board will be reviewing it at their meeting on March 22, 2012 and the Newberg City Council will be reviewing it at their meeting on April 2, 2012.
January, 2012: A public meeting with updates to the Cultural District master plan was held on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 6:30 pm at the Newberg Public Library. Everyone who attended learned more about plans for the Cultural District and the next steps in the process.
The Parking area behind the Cultural Center has been completed and is open for use.
November-December, 2011: Work is progressing on the parking area located behind the Cultural Center.
October, 2011
About 30 neighbors, community members, and officials from the City of Newberg, Chehalem Park and Recreation District and the Newberg Downtown Coalition, listened to Carol Meyer-Reed and Tim Eddy as they described the various areas and activities for the four block area at a public meeting on October 12, 2011. Their firms had taken the ideas from the People for Public Spaces conceptual plan and plotted them in the district. Highlights include making a more defined entrance at Howard and Hancock streets and having other design devices on the perimeter of the District to define the boundaries.
Concern was expressed by a number of neighbors about the area to the west of the Cultural Center being shown as event space rather than parking. The plan as developed by Hennebery/Eddy and Meyer/Reed does add parking on Sheridan and Howard Streets that the PPS plan had removed, but concern was still expressed by a number of people that while the conditional use permit requires 93 spaces for the CCC, that a 250 person event, with event staff, would quickly overwhelm the spaces and impact neighbors, including public access to the library. A number of people at the meeting would like to see the area marked as E3 on the plan become parking and the area marked E2 become part parking and part outdoor/garden room for the Center's ballroom.
Other ideas expressed included plantings and art that would be educational in nature and also use sustainable practices. The idea of a "Culture Wall" replacing the Library Annex, to provide a backdrop to events as well as a timeline of the culture of the Chehalem Valley was brought up. Some kind of water feature was discussed, with the idea that it would need to be small and able to be turned off to provide space for events. It was a general consensus that a large splash pad might be too big for the four block space, but that a small water feature could be a plus.
A number of people expressed appreciation for the large trees in the area and the shade they provide. Some expressed they would like to see the landscaping be unique and not just the average landscaping found at many public buildings.
The archtiects shared that pavers on Sheridan Street would be designed to slow traffic and remind drivers they were in a more pedistrian area. It was suggested Sherman Street also get some type of treatment to slow traffic on those streets, perhaps in conjunction with the design elements to designate the boundaries of the district.
A number of people asked about the next steps and who makes the decisions. The City of Newberg and Chehalem Park & Recreation District are the primary property owners in the area. The architects will be taking the information from this meeting and in conjunction with the City and CPRD will be refining a master plan. (See attachments in the box below for Nov. 2011) It will have more public comment time and will eventually come before the City Council and CPRD Board for adoption. The City and CPRD will be putting together a timeline for that process and it will be added to this web site.
September/October, 2011
Architects from Hennebery Eddy and landscape architects from Mayer/Reed developed conceptual plans derived from input from the community and ideas and concepts from the Project for Public Spaces workshops held in recent months. These plans will be shared at a community and neighborhood meeting on Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 6:30 pm at the Newberg Public Library. Topics will include potential for land use within the four-block district, district identity, festivals and events, parking and circulation.
August, 2011
The Chehalem Park and Recreation District received funding to put in a 55 space parking lot at the rear of the Cultural Center and they will be breaking ground in fall of 2010 on the project. They contracted with architectural firm Hennebery Eddy (HE) to design the parking lot. Two neighborhood meetings (August 10 & 13) and a City Planning Commission hearing (August 11) on a varience needed for the parking lot were held. The City Planning Commission approved the varience which allows for 55 spaces in the rear of the Cultural Center. HE is working on a parking plan for the rest of the Cultural District. They will be meeting with City and CPRD representatives in September and October.
Spring 2011
The CPRD Board and Newberg City Council reviewed the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) plans at their meetings. Neither group took formal action.
April 25, 2011
A public meeting was held to provide an opportunity for community members and neighbors to see the PPS plans. No formal action was taken.
February, 2011
The report from PPS was delivered to the City of Newberg, CPRD and the NDC.
October 21, 2010
PPS staff developed a preliminary plan and brought it back to Newberg for a second public meeting.
September 15, 2010
A placemaking workshop, facilitated by PPS staff, attended by 50 people, discussed, walked around and dreamed about what they would like to see in the Cultural District. This formed the basis for the PPS report.
Summer, 2010
The City of Newberg, Chehalem Park and Recreation District (CPRD) and the Newberg Downtown Coalition (NDC) contracted with People for Public Spaces (PPS) to develop a conceptual plan for the area surround the Chehalem Cultural Center and the Newberg Public Library.
