ALL AMERICA SQUARE FINAL PLAN

The goal of this project was to preserve and enhance All-America City Square (aka Opal Whitely Park), a place that is considered essential to the community's civic and historic identity.

All-America City Square is a small public plaza in the heart of Cottage Grove's Downtown Historic District. It centers around a beautiful mural of Opal Whitley painted on the western faade of the adjacent building. It includes a replica of the original (c. 1890) hose tower used by the Cottage Grove Fire Department, a publicly accessible restroom building, and stone garden beds featuring a beautiful native shrub and wildflower garden planted and maintained by the Cottage Grove Garden Club. The Square was originally designed for the Economic & Business Improvement District (EBID) in 2005 as a community gathering space in and enhancement to the downtown commercial area. Most of the original design was constructed in 2007 by EBID. The square was given to the City of Cottage Grove by EBID in 2009. It has become a recognized icon in the historic district, and is visited, photographed, and loved by many.

The park, which is now 10 years old, is showing some wear, particularly the flagstone paving  and retaining walls, and the vegetation has become dense. Some elements of the park design  were never completed, such as the hose tower's interior, signage, lighting, and seating. Uses in and around the park have continued to change over the last decade. Complaints have been made that the design of the park limits some of these uses. With the development of the Armory across the street as a community center and the expansion of street/park activities in the historic downtown like Art Walk and the Farmer's Market, among other programming, it is clear that the park use will continue to grow and evolve.

The full report and drawings are provided below.