Dozens of people gathered on Southeast 9th Avenue and Southeast Taylor Street Tuesday for a free community event marking the start of a major renovation to a skate park that, just a few years ago, sat on a block locals warned newcomers to avoid. The gathering included free food, music and extracurricular activities, and it served as the kickoff to revitalizing the space that has become known as a haven for at-risk youth in Portland.
The event was hosted by Dream Big City, the nonprofit behind the original transformation of the block, according to KPTV. Founder and Executive Director Alex Murrell said people once warned newcomers to steer clear of 9th and Taylor, a reflection of the block's reputation before the plaza existed. According to the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the block was widely avoided due to frequent gun violence, open drug use and long-term homeless encampments made up of RVs, tents and trash before the plaza's creation.
Murrell said some children who came through the space put down guns, picked up skateboards, formed new friend groups and found a lasting passion, per the station's report. Kyle Parrish, who attended the event, said he did not have comparable community events while growing up and told the outlet he was grateful for the gathering.
From Temporary Plaza to Permanent Skate Infrastructure
The block's transformation began in earnest in late July 2025, when the Portland Dream Plaza officially opened through a public-private partnership between Dream Big City, PBOT and the Central Eastside Industrial Council, converting a full city block into an officially permitted public street plaza, according to Portland.gov. That launch included the installation of a 126-foot-long, 34-foot-wide ground mural designed by artist Matt French and painted with community volunteers, a piece recognized as the largest painted skateboard mural in the United States.
Now the space is moving from temporary, modular street structures into something more permanent. The Dream Big City skate park will undergo hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations, with organizers saying the expansion should be complete by the beginning of October, per KPTV's report. Tuesday's gathering doubled as an art workshop that will provide elements to be used in the community renovation, giving residents a chance to help create pieces for the revamped skate ramps.
Architecture Firm Chips In Pro Bono Design Work
Bora Architecture & Interiors donated $60,000 of work to the renovations, the station reported. Brian Squillece of the firm said Bora wanted to support community building and violence prevention through the project. Bora Architecture & Interiors relocated its headquarters to the Volta building in the Central Eastside back in 2022, putting its studio in the same industrial district as the skate plaza it's now helping rebuild.
The nonprofit's involvement in the block goes back further than this week's kickoff. In May, Dream Big City worked with Art Director Alex Chiu and six other artists to repaint the skate ramps and lead a three-block neighborhood cleanup around SE 9th and Taylor, according to Dream Big City. Murrell, a Portland native, has also owned and operated Stickers Asian Cafe in the city for more than 27 years, giving him a long-standing commercial footprint in the community he now serves.
A Track Record of Free Community Events
Over six years of operation across Portland, Dream Big City has hosted more than 170 alcohol- and drug-free community events, engaging over 120,000 attendees and serving over 90,000 free meals, per the nonprofit's own figures. The organization's work at 9th and Taylor earned Murrell the 2025 Community Catalyst Award from the Central Eastside Industrial Council in December, recognizing his role in transforming the block into a vibrant neighborhood hub.
The push to activate underused streets extends well beyond this single block. PBOT issued 344 community event permits across 2025 that drew more than 1.3 million total attendees, including 22 Play Street events that temporarily closed streets for youth physical activity and family recreation. Portland's tradition of grassroots skate infrastructure dates back to 1990, when skaters built the world-famous Burnside Skatepark under the Burnside Bridge, a lineage the Portland Mercury connects to modern, permitted projects like the one now taking shape at SE 9th and Taylor.
