page_title: Pioneer Courthouse Square
section_title: Features and use
hierarchical_section_title: Pioneer Courthouse Square / Features and use
caption_attribution_description: Pioneer Courthouse Square, in Portland, Oregon, United States. This view is looking northwestwards and shows the west half of the square, on a sunny spring day.
context_page_description: Pioneer Courthouse Square, also known as Portland's living room, is a public space occupying a full 40,000-square-foot city block in the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Opened in 1984, the square is bounded by Southwest Morrison Street on the north, Southwest 6th Avenue on the east, Southwest Yamhill Street on the south, and Southwest Broadway on the west.
context_section_description: On Morrison and Yamhill streets (the north and south boundaries of the square) are sheltered MAX Light Rail stops. On the north side is an artistic feature, consisting of towering classical columns which progressively topple over like those of an ancient ruin. There are outdoor chess tables on some of the toppled columns; chess players frequently congregate there during the day. A fountain, taking the form of a cascading waterfall, on the west side of the square frames the entrance to a public information center and TriMet ticket office. The center of the square is arranged like an amphitheater, with a semicircle of approximately two dozen steps serving as seats when the square is used for musical performances or other events. Pioneer Courthouse Square was a designated non-smoking area as of January 1, 2007.
  The bricks used to pave the square were sold to raise funds for the square's construction, and are inscribed with donors' names. However, the bricks were not laid in any discernible order, so people looking for a particular brick must spend time walking around the park, head down. This leads to collisions with others looking for their bricks, and gave the park its nickname, "Bang Heads Park".  Eric Ladd, an "early pioneer of…sustainable living," built the wrought-iron gateway on the eastern edge of the Square in the 1970s, out of scrap salvaged from the Portland Hotel.
  For almost 20 years, commercial space at the square's south end was occupied by a branch of Powell's Books.  Opened in September 1985, it was called Powell's Travel Store and was focused exclusively on travel-related literature and supplies.  The store closed at the end of January 2005, and the space was then vacant for an extended period, until KGW-TV, Portland's NBC affiliate, began leasing it in early 2008, with plans to construct a studio there.
  In March 2009, KGW opened a high-definition news studio at the square, which it uses to broadcast its morning, noon and 7 p.m. newscasts.  Regular broadcasts from the location began on March 17, 2009, with the 4:30 a.m. newscast.  The space occupied by KGW is approximately 2,000 square feet (190 m²) in area and underground, with a small window area near the square's 6th and Yamhill corner.
  The square costs the city an estimated $1.2 million per year, mostly for security, cleanup, and events.
caption: South and west sides of the square, looking northwest
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