The project to develop Court Plaza in downtown Baker City has received two significant grants, and efforts are underway to raise the remaining $375,000 in grants and local fundraisers. (Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald)

The vision of developing Court Plaza is closer to reality thanks to two grants awarded to the City of Baker City and Baker City Downtown.

In September, the city received a Local Government Grant Program grant from Oregon Parks and Recreation to fund 60% of the project total estimated cost of $1.3 million.

In December, Baker City Downtown was awarded a Leo Adler Foundation grant for $100,000 over two years to fund part of the 40% matching funds for the LGGP grant.

BCD is pursuing additional grants and local fundraising to raise the rest of the matching funds, said Ariel Reker, BCD executive director.

“We are incredibly excited to bring this project into a completion phase, with construction planned for 2026,” she said.

Starting in 1984, the Court Plaza project was adopted as part of the city-wide plan to develop the Leo Adler Memorial Pathway through town that includes pocket parks and Central Park in downtown Baker City.

That plan, Reker said, called for a short section of city street to be converted to a plaza that “creates more spaces for pedestrian gatherings and events and encourages explorations from and to the riverwalk, parks and downtown.”

To date, she said, Court Plaza remains one of the last projects to complete the 1984 plan.

The plaza is between Main and Resort streets. It measures 80 feet by 100 feet.

The design

The plaza design features decorative concrete finishes, reclaimed tuff stone seating walls, planting beds with automated irrigation, and eight shade trees. Three decorative light poles will be installed with power outlets, brackets for hanging flower baskets, drip water lines, and security cameras that will link with cameras in Central Park and communicate to the police department.

A 10-foot bronze focal piece is a replica of the 1902 watering trough that stood 50 feet west in the middle of the street before being destroyed by a runaway team of horses a few years later, Reker said. The base for the bronze piece will also hold the community holiday tree and have outlets for the lights.

The phases

Portions of the plaza are already complete from adjacent street projects, Reker said. In 2013, the land was transferred to the city parks department. That same year, Resort Street was rebuilt and property owners paid to bury the utilities lines. Court Street, between Main and Resort streets, was closed and converted to a temporary parking lot.

In 2015, the land was officially rezoned as a city park. In 2023, as part of the ODOT ramps project on Main Street, the sidewalk and entrance to the plaza were built following plaza designs.

Reker said the Baker City Vision 2030 Plan “prescribes partnerships with nonprofits for continued development and lack of city funding for future parks projects,” so BCD took on the fundraising effort to complete the plaza.

“With an ADA-accessible surface, plentiful seating, shade trees, and amenities the space will transform into a setting that invites visitors and the community to stop and enjoy with pride the completion of another piece of the long range plan,” Reker said.

Future funding

BCD is seeking additional large grants to fund the majority of the remaining matching funds necessary to complete the project — about $375,000 — and is also launching local fundraising initiatives to show local support of the project and fund any incidental costs not covered by grants.

Anyone interested in learning more about the project, or to donate, can visit www.bakercitydowntown.com and choose “Court Plaza Project” under the “Get Involved” tab.