This page highlights our success in managing a large scale Tactical Urbanism initiative in the Old Town neighborhood district located in Portland, Oregon. This project was implemented and managed between 2020 and 2021 with the primary purpose of activating a key intersection in the district after foot traffic dropped 78% During the COVID 19 Pandemic. Abrupt changes to the condition and functionality of Downtown Portland put many retailers at risk of permanent closure and this intervention was an attempt to restore the level of customer foot traffic that would allow small retail businesses to survive. Dreemweaver Concepts secured grant funding from Venture Portland, Prosper Portland, and The Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) to make streetscaping repairs, cover the entire House of Louie restaurant building facade with murals, and convert an adjacent vacant commercial space into a rotating art gallery. The sections below describe these projects along with the positive activation synergy that resulted from implementing these initiatives in tandem.

Activating the Key Intersection of NW 4th and Davis: The Intersection of NW 4th and Davis was identified as a key strategic location for a large scale Tactical Urbanism initiative and this intersection is highlighted in orange on the adjacent map. There were several related streetwear retailers in this location that offered both a community of creatives and a willingness to participate in this activation initiative. Retailers are dispersed throughout the entire area and by activating the intersection of 4th and Davis a larger community benefit could be gained through activity radiating outward. The combination of the Old Town Festival Streets to the east and the large parking lot to the west offered ample space to host large scale vendor events. This location is also within short walking distance of popular attractions which include the Tom McCall waterfront park, the Chinatown Gate, Voodoo Doughnuts, and other attractions.

The Old Town Festival Streets: An Underutilized Opportunity. The Old Town Festival Streets served as the primary anchor for this Tactical Urbanism intervention. The Festival Streets were built in 2008 for the purpose of holding regular community events in the district. The specific design of the Old Town Festival Streets includes large planter boxes at all of the intersections and a curb-less street area and these components allow for convenience with closing and activating the entire street section. While the Festival Streets opened up with much promise and optimism they were barely used for event purposes prior to the pandemic. The failure to utilize the Festival Streets appeared to result from no formal management entity being designated to manage and promote these spaces. The first step in activating this space involved replacing broken pavers, rejuvenating and trimming the plant life, repairing the electrical system, and deep cleaning surfaces. Dreemweaver Concepts obtained a $10,000 grant from Venture Portland to fund this repair work in preparation for hosting events.

Intervention #1. Cover the Vacant House of Louie Building with Complimentary Mural Work. To make this location attractive and inviting something needed to be done to the damaged and deteriorated facade at the adjacent House of Louie restaurant building. While a significant degree of degradation had taken place to the building there still were many attractive decorative elements left that allowed for a creative opportunity. The building has a very interesting original design consisting of ornate posts on the doorways with protruding dragon heads, large dragon and rooster moldings on the walls, large decorative baseboards, neon signage, and other fine details. This mural project started with four installations on the side of the building facing Davis and after these murals were painted it became clear that the only way to remedy the situation was to add murals to all the window boards along with repainting the entire building facade. This tedious work took place between July and September of 2020 with 14 artists and 10 community volunteers working to complete this large scale community mural project. Dreemweaver Concepts obtained a $20,000 grant from RACC for artist compensation and project management services.

Intervention #2. Start a Bi-Monthly Street Fair Featuring Local Apparel Designers. In May of 2020 the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) launched the Healthy Business Program which allowed small retail businesses to close adjacent streets for outdoor events while also providing free barricades and other resources. Dreemweaver Concepts partnered with the apparel brand Produce Portland which served as an anchor for this event. The Produce Portland storefront is directly adjacent to the Festival Streets and the store functioned as a community space for local streetwear designers. Due to the fact that Produce Portland already had an established network of up and coming apparel designers it was relatively easy to recruit complimentary apparel vendors to fill up the adjacent street event area. This outdoor street fair initiative began with eight vendors on the Davis Festival Street in July of 2020 and by July of 2021 it grew to hosting over 50 vendors across all four street sections of 4th and Davis.

Intervention #3. Convert a Vacant Adjacent Commercial Unit into a Rotating Art Gallery. The Produce Portland storefront was located in the Tuck Lung building which also had an additional 3,200 sq ft vacant commercial space. This particular unit had been vacant during the peak commercial leasing years prior to the pandemic and the layout in this particular unit was ideal for an art gallery space. In 2021 Dreemweaver Concepts obtained a $20,000 grant from RACC to host an inaugural art event that would allow for a complete transformation of this space. Between 2020 and 2021 Dreamweaver Concepts managed six separate month-long art gallery events and over a dozen weekend pop up shop events for aspiring apparel designers. All of the art events hosted in this space featured underrepresented artist groups and through the course of six shows over $10,000 in artwork was sold.

Creating a Positive Synergy to Achieve a Positive Result for the District: Combining these three related interventions allowed the district to attract diverse crowds who were interested in art, apparel, music, and/or vibrant outdoor community events. By the spring of 2021 these three interventions began firing on all cylinders and by the summer these activations brought well over 1000 visitors during event weekends. The amount of activity generated by these events is significant when considering that foot traffic had dropped by 78% in the district. The success behind this particular activation centered on the positive synergy that was formed through merging different skill sets and talents to form a visually appealing and entertaining community attraction. The event days transformed the neighborhood into a completely different environment which was the ultimate goal of this initiative. You can see this project from start to finish at the slideshow below.