Executive Summary:
The Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal building in Portland is going to get a $135 million "green" makeover with federal stimulus funds. This is the largest stimulus project announced thus far for Oregon.
The plans call for one side of the 18-story building to be covered in 250-foot tall trellises, a giant "green roof" on top of the existing one for the purpose of collecting rainwater, etc., and other "green" improvements.
The architect currently has no idea how the trellises will actually be constructed, and gardening experts worry that it will be hard to keep the plants alive in Portland's warm "Mediterranean" summers.
Construction is to take 3 to 4 years, and federal employees will be working elsewhere while the work is done.
Opinion:
Not only is this one of the ugliest proposed remodeling projects I have ever seen (people say that the original building is ugly, but the remodel makes it worse), but is this a good use of stimulus dollars? To build a "plant wall" on the side of an office building that will likely be dead 6 months after it reopens? Hell no. And why is this project planned to take so long? And who is footing the bill to put the employees in temporary work space? Oh, that's right, I am.
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