Center of Attention: Southwest Community Center Portland Parks and Recreation Portland, Oregon - design, construction and aquatic programmes of community centre

Parks & Recreation, Feb, 2001 by J. Douglas Macy

Center's Components Work Together for Success

"We feel very good about the wide range of age groups that use the center on a regular basis. On a typical day we see a full range from preschoolers, moms and dads, and senior citizens to middle school students hanging out in the lobby and using the facility." -- Doug Brenner, Southwest Community Center Director and Aquatics Program Director, Portland Parks & Recreation

A quick tour of the center upholds the premise that today's community center must provide more than just a swimming pool to be successful. The Entrance Plaza and Lobby areas set a warm and gracious tone, providing comfortable furnishings and places to stop for a rest, wait for a ride, or visit with friends.

Funded by the Bureau of Environmental Services, the Watershed Resource Room is a unique feature of the Southwest Community Center. Located in the lobby, this room houses a resource library for information and materials on area watersheds, including Fanno Creek. Related classes and activities, such as stream walks, are offered here and watershed volunteer groups, such as the Friends of Fanno Creek, use the space for meetings.

The Aquatics Center features three bodies of water with different temperatures, depths, water movement, and levels of activity. A 25-yard six-lane lap pool complete with a rope swing includes a lift feature that makes it accessible to everyone. The leisure pool has a zero-depth entry and goes to a depth of 4.5 feet. The 120-foot long, 17-foot high water slide with a separate splash-down area is the central feature of the leisure pool, accented with water geysers and Gadgets and Gizmos Water Play structures. The 12-person spa is fully accessible and is oriented to a great view of the park's rolling hills.

Additional recreational facilities include the Gym, with its rubberized subfloor and hardwood floor donated by Nike; the Exercise Studio with mirrored walls, natural light and a 1,600-square-foot floating wood floor providing space for a wide variety of programming; and the Fitness Room with free weights, the latest in biomechanically correct selectorized weight training machines, and a variety of cardio equipment.

Support spaces include Kids Central for childcare; the Multi-Purpose Room which accommodates approximately 100 people and is wired for all the electronics needed for today's business meetings; and Poolside Rooms. Popular for birthday parties, the Poolside Rooms are flexible classrooms that can be used together or divided into two smaller spaces. Each has a sink and direct access out to the pool deck. As with most of the center's spaces, these rooms are available for rental or parties.

A Model for Environmental Sustainability

Given its location in one of Portland's largest green spaces, integration with the site's natural processes and conservation of natural resources were highly visible elements in the center's design. Because all stormwater runoff eventually finds its way to the adjacent creek, Walker Macy designed an innovative stormwater treatment system to recreate natural filtration processes to help keep Fanno Creek and its surrounding watershed clean. Rainwater falling on the parking lot flows through slotted curbs into bioswales. These wide shallow ditches, located in the center of the parking lot and between the parking lot and the new building, are planted with vegetation to catch and filter the water that runs off of the roof and hardscapes. Both the basins and a series of foundation drains empty into a large detention pond where the fluctuation of water levels can be viewed against concrete walls.