WATER WORLD. The Portland Legacy Fountain, a project envisioned by the late Bill Naito, will be located near Ankeny Plaza in Old Town. The downtown monument will underscore the contributions of immigrants and native people to the region’s rich and vibrant cultural landscape. (Images courtesy of Ned Kahn Studio)

From The Asian Reporter, V17, #44 (October 30, 2007), page 11 & 13.

By Maileen Hamto

Plans for a new downtown monument underscore the contributions of immigrants and native people to the region’s rich and vibrant cultural landscape.

The idea for the Portland Legacy Fountain was conceived by the late Portland businessman and philanthropist Bill Naito, said daughter Anne Naito-Campbell.

"Before my father passed, he envisioned a monument of some kind to celebrate the cultural diversity of Portland," said Naito-Campbell, a principal at the Bill Naito Co. While Portland Parks & Recreation and the Portland Development Commission also are involved in developing the fountain, Naito-Campbell has been busy raising private funds for the project.

Thus far, Naito-Campbell has successfully raised more than half of the $1 million required to get the project off the ground. The rest of the funds must be raised by 2008, when construction for the fountain is scheduled to begin.

Completion of the fountain, to be located near Ankeny Plaza in Old Town, is slated to coincide with the opening of Portland Saturday Market’s new home in 2009.

The proposed Portland Legacy Fountain will feature intertwining ribbons of water. "It is a metaphor both for the natural river and for the streams of people who have made this area their home," Naito-Campbell said.

The Portland Legacy Fountain will be a central feature of a new plaza that will host open-air markets and large-scale cultural programs. Located alongside Portland Saturday Market, Mercy Corps world headquarters, and the University of Oregon Portland Center, the plaza is expected to draw visitors to a variety of public events throughout the year.

In the needs statement sent out to prospective donors, Naito-Campbell outlined how the fountain is intended to honor unique contributions that make up the diverse cultural mosaic of Portland.

"We honor the Native American tribes who first settled in the area, the British, Russians, French, Dutch explorers and early settlers; then the waves of 19th and early 20th century immigrants — Chinese, Eastern European, German, Greek, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Roma, Jewish, and Scandinavian peoples — all of whom played historically important roles in the region’s development," she wrote. "We celebrate the African-American migration that transformed Portland during the Second World War period, and the legacy of diversity that continues to this day as new immigrant communities arrive and contribute to a still dynamic and thriving city."

Interactivity is a prime feature of the fountain, designed by renowned artist Ned Kahn. Visitors will step on a nozzle in one ribbon and cause a corresponding nozzle in the other ribbon to shoot water up higher. As these ribbons wind downward and south across the circular plaza, they blend into a display of lights in the pavement that are also activated by people visiting the fountain.

The ribbons of water and light will culminate in a circular water feature at the south end of the plaza, where water is again activated by people stepping on the first stair tread, sending out horizontal sheets of water.

"The interaction of people and the fountain creates waves of water gently crashing into each other," said Naito-Campbell.

The Regional Arts and Culture Council voted to support the concepts presented by Kahn.

"This fountain promises to be a major Portland gathering place for all," said Naito-Campbell, who is confident the fountain will be comparable in quality and activity to the Salmon Street Springs Fountain in the southern half of Waterfront Park.

Interested in supporting the Portland Legacy Fountain? A group of local Chinese-American organizations is hosting a fundraising dinner to benefit the project. Led by the Portland Lodge of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, the dinner begins at 5:30pm on Sunday, November 11 at Wong Kee Restaurant, located at 28 N.W. Fourth Avenue in Portland. Organizers aim to raise $10,000 for a plaque along the fountain that honors the contributions of Chinese Americans to the region. The cost for the banquet is $100 per person. To order tickets, call (503) 810-0115 or (503) 221-8773, or e-mail <ChineseDinner@gmail.com>.

In addition, the Portland Old Town Cultural and Arts Foundation is selling raffle tickets priced at $100 each. The drawing for prizes will be held at 1:00pm on May 25, 2008 on the Portland Saturday Market main stage. The grand prize is an Old Town Weekend, featuring two nights at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Old Town, breakfast at Stumptown Coffee Roasters, a $100 gift certificate to shop at Portland Saturday Market, and a $25 gift certificate at the Rogue Brewery booth at Portland Saturday Market. For more information, contact Renee Conlee, executive director of the Portland Old Town Cultural and Arts Foundation, at (503) 553-9091 or e-mail <reneedave@aol.com>.

To learn more about the Portland Legacy Fountain and other ways to give, visit <www.POTACFoundation.org>.