Looking Glass Plaza Project Hits Bump in the Road

As the long summer of road construction on Kent St wraps up with the official ribbon cutting on the 16th, Portlanders collectively breathe a sigh of relief.  No more long traffic backups or construction; for now.   While work on Kent St was underway, behind the scenes the City was going through the bid process for the construction of the plaza planned for the property next to Fabiano’s Riverhouse Bar and Grill. That project was originally set to be completed this fall, but has run into setbacks.

According to Portland City Manager Andrew Dymczyk, city engineers anticipated receiving as many as 6 bids for the project based on contractor interest in the pre-bid walkthrough.  However, after the bid process closed only one bid was received and that bid was far over budget.  One factor Dymczyk says is that this is a “contractor-friendly bidding environment” where demand is high and contractors can pick and choose projects.  Several firms indicated that the scope of the project was beyond their capabilities to assemble a team to complete all three parts of the project.

In response the city has broken the project into three components: the demolition of the building, repair of the retaining wall along the Looking Glass River, and construction of the plaza. This approach, according to Dymczyk actually coordinates better with the ongoing replacement of sewer mains tunneled under the river.  That project has also hit delays due to difficulties with drilling.  “Drilling work for the sanitary sewer river crossing encountered what we suspect is a thick layer of rock/cobble,” Says Dymczyk, “ that starts near the front of the building at 103 E. Grand River Avenue.”  To work around this problem, the company doing the drilling will demolish the building which will allow them to excavate the problem area.

Once demolition of the building and completion of the sanitary sewer river crossing is completed, work can proceed on repairing the retaining wall.  That work will be put out for a stand alone bid in hopes of generating more bids.  Work on the retaining wall is anticipated to be completed over the coming winter or early spring of 2025.  During that time, city engineers will refine the plans for the plaza project and put that third component out for a bid with the hopes of having the whole project completed by summer 2025.

Once demolition occurs the area will be fenced off for safety for the remainder of the sewer, retaining wall, and plaza work.  The sidewalk along the north side of Grand River Ave. will also be closed during most of that time.  However, since this project is being completed after the Kent St work is finished pedestrian traffic will be detoured onto the other side of the street during the project.  Work in the area is also anticipated to involve single lane closures/shifts on Grand River Ave.

The property for the plaza project was donated to the city by the Fabiano family, and the project is being funded by a combination of City DDA funds, as well as a $200,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Revitalization and Placemaking program.  “This is a unique project with a variety of challenges,” says Dymczyk, “resolving them has been a team effort between City staff, engineers, contractors and business owners.  We are grateful for the community’s patience as we work through each of them.”

PHOTO: Courtesy City of Portland and Fleis and Vandenbrink.