Ankeny Plaza
The captured official page publishes visiting hours. Check the source for current closures. Public-entry status is separate from wheelchair accessibility.
Classification and evidence
Official page label: Park; Atlas classification rules. Classification: inferred.
Source captured: 2026-06-02. Human verification: Pending.
Check current official informationConfirm the inferred property type with PP&R.
Published activities: meet in a public square, be in a park, and sit by a fountain.
Photo from the City's park pagePark history
Ankeny Plaza was once the heart of Portland's entertainment and commerce. The first true public space in the Skidmore-Old Town District, it is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built on vacated Vine St. and Block 35 on the site of the Bank of British Columbia.
The Plaza was updated in the mid-1980s when TriMet's light rail system (MAX) was slated to travel through the area. PP&R was careful to keep the restoration sensitive to its historical backdrop. Donations of original wrought iron and other historic building materials were used in order to restore Ankeny Plaza to its former glory.
The Skidmore Fountain is Portland's oldest piece of public art and has been praised as one of the finest fountains in American art. Stephen G. Skidmore, a druggist who arrived in Portland by covered wagon, left $5,000 in his will for a fountain for "men, horses and dogs" (Henry Weinhard offered to pump beer into the fountain for the dedication). His friends raised an additional $18,000 and New York sculptor Olin Levi Warner was commissioned to design it. The fountain was styled after fountains Skidmore viewed on his visit to the 1878 Paris Exposition. It is 14-feet-tall with a bronze basin eight feet in diameter resting on a central granite shaft and two bronze caryatids, classical Grecian female figures. Four stone watering troughs alternate with stone steps leading to the octagonal base, which is inscribed "Good citizens are the riches of a city," a quote from C.E.S. Wood. The troughs fill with water flowing from the fountain through miniature lion heads. In its early days, metal drinking cups were attached by chains to four of the heads. The bronze work was cast by Bureau Bros. of Philadelphia and the base was made of dressed granite from the Franklin quarries in Maine. Although, the plaza was the center of Portland when the fountain was dedicated on September 22, 1888, the New York Tribune implied that the fountain was too fine an achievement "for a western city with its bewhiskered, bepistoled lot of frontiersmen."
From the City's page for this park.
Visitor amenities
Published amenities are checked separately from entry conditions. Each links to other documented locations; confirm current hours before visiting.
- meet in a public squarePlaza or terrace
- sit by a fountainFountain
- be in a parkAny park
- see public artPublic art
Potential additions to investigate
Passing the initial size-and-type screen is not a feasibility finding. Usable space, existing uses, habitat, public access, utilities, permission, construction costs, and ongoing maintenance funding require site-specific review. Missing acreage or uncertain classification remains unassessed.
- Nature education — Environmental programs and guided walks.
No single-addition candidate passes this preliminary screen.
Outside the size-and-type screen for this 0.2-acre park property: gather after dark (restroom); watch a show or hold an event (restroom); cool off (splash pad or wading pool or swimming pool or interactive fountain); be inside when it rains (indoor space or community center or arts or cultural center or gymnasium).
Inventory-based screening only. Recorded assets do not establish opening hours, program staffing, permission, or operating funding. Potential additions require review of usable space, habitat, utilities, access, and ongoing maintenance. Unverified properties remain unassessed.
Something specific to this park — the thing you'd use it for if it were here.
Send an idea for this park →Through the year
Seasonal facilities and listings captured by the Atlas. These records do not measure attendance, utilization or all activity at the site.
Counts describe captured listings, not attendance or all activity. No listings captured does not mean the site is unused.
Dark by 5 and wet most days: cover, lighting, indoor rooms, and paths that drain.
- meet in a public square
- be in a park
- sit by a fountain
- see public art
Fields and gardens open; showers between sun. Leagues, planting, first picnics.
- meet in a public square
- be in a park
- sit by a fountain
- see public art
Water, shade, long evenings — the season the system is built around.
- meet in a public square
- be in a park
- sit by a fountain
- see public art
Light shortens and leagues wind down; shelters and lighting carry the season.
- meet in a public square
- be in a park
- sit by a fountain
- see public art
| Season | Programs | Recurring events | One-time |
|---|---|---|---|
Winter Dec–Feb registration opens 10/08 (activities Nov 2 – Dec 13 and winter-break camps Dec 21 – Jan 3) | — | — | — |
Spring Mar–May Recorded from 2026-06-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Summer Jun–Aug Recorded from 2026-06-11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Fall Sep–Nov Recorded through 2026-09; 2 months still to come | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What's on
No current listings were captured and matched to this property. This does not establish that no activity takes place. See the citywide calendar and programs.
Partners & friends
The whole ecosystemNo known partner is currently linked to Ankeny Plaza in the Partnership Atlas. This is an opportunity signal, not an official priority.
See opportunity signalsSupport this park
Real ways to help Ankeny Plaza and parks like it. This site does not process donations; every link below goes to an official giving or volunteering channel.
How it's holding up
The City's own inventory of what is here and the condition it last recorded for each item. Dates are the source's; old dates mean no newer public assessment, not that nothing has happened since. PP&R does not publish itemized repair costs, so needs appear without dollar figures.
Condition across all assets
Citywide condition atlasAcross 6 assessed assets at this park, 0% are in poor or very-bad condition (rated 4–5). Pooled from the City's public assessment layers — buildings, bridges, playgrounds, courts, fields, fences, paths and amenities.
This count comes from the City's rated asset layers; the “Public assets” list below is a separate furnishings inventory, so its items and scores are counted separately and the two totals need not match.
Condition is rated 1 (good) to 5 (very bad); no score means not yet assessed and is excluded. Park trees are inventoried separately and not counted here. No repair costs — those aren't published.
Repair ledger
Public data does not currently flag repair candidates for this park. Additional PP&R maintenance exports can be added without changing the page structure.
Seen something here that's broken, fixed, or missing from this list? Records are updated periodically; tell us what you see.
Send a condition note →Public assets
All 3Furnishings the City inventories here, with each item's condition score — 1 is good, 5 is very bad. Asset photos aren't public yet.
From the City's park page
Ankeny Plaza on Portland.gov
Park hours: 5:00am-midnight
All dogs must be leashed in this park.
This page, on a sign
The QR label for this park points here. Print labels →
https://parks.portlandciviclab.org/parks/ankeny-plaza-50?utm_source=park_qr&utm_medium=sign&utm_campaign=park_50
Where this comes from
Facilities from the City's amenity pages and asset layers; hours, photo, and history from the City's park page; programs and events from its catalogs; condition from PortlandMaps public records. Where the City publishes nothing, this page says so instead of guessing.