Ira Keller Fountain Park

The Ira Keller Fountain features concrete walls cast from wooden molds that mimic the jagged basalt cliffs of the Columbia River Gorge. Thousands of gallons of water cascade over these terraces every minute, masking the surrounding city noise with the roar of a mountain stream. When the park opened in nineteen seventy, architect Lawrence Halprin designed the fountain to provide a wilderness experience within downtown Portland. A child once drowned in the current, leading to a permanent change in how local authorities manage public water.