Oregon School Project Spurs Portland Waterfront Renewal
"OHSU is one of the largest employers in Oregon and it needed to expand its campus, either outside the city or off Marquam Hill down to the waterfront," says Jonas M. Allen, spokesman for Portland Aerial Transportation Inc., a civic organization that serves as consultant to the city, which owns the project. "After eight years of study, it was decided to go with the tram and develop the waterfront to keep OHSU."
AGPS Architecture Inc., Los Angeles, was selected unanimously from a field of four in March 2003 to design the tram. Doppelmayr CTEC Inc., Salt Lake City, will supply the cars, engineering and training. The tram stations were designed originally with hewn wooden timber members on the upper and lower terminals and intermediate cable tower but the architect switched to steel because of cost and supply issues.