Hundreds attended the plaza ’ s July 2019 grand opening , and an estimated 3,200 were drawn to the area for the free daylong Harbor Fest event in September .
“ Our goal is to really program the plaza as much as we can ,” Adams said . “ People do have to travel a little bit to get here , so we figure the more we can program it , the more people we ’ re going to expose to the plaza – and the more people will come down on their own and experience it .”
“ Bruce is a problem-solver ,” Adams said . “ Building a park like this is not your everyday , off-the-shelf project . There were a lot of unique and challenging elements to it . We were constantly hitting up against things that we weren ’ t sure how to handle , and Bruce was the guy who would dig into it and reach into Ayres ’ network of folks to get answers .”
With a great first year under their belt , all signs point to continued success for the Harbor District from here on out .
That said , Adams said he ’ s been pleasantly surprised by the number of people using it already , from kayakers to families to boat enthusiasts coming down to look at the ships “ because it provides the best view of the port and their operations .”
“ It ’ s been a huge hit and a great success ,” he said , attributing a large chunk of that success to Morrow ’ s ingenuity and resourcefulness .
“ This is the first big major project we ’ ve pulled off , and I think this is really going to help set the tone for future work we do in the District ,” Adams said . “ Ayres had a big hand in that . We really enjoyed and appreciated working with them . We ’ re looking forward to what comes next and how we can build off of the success of the plaza .” www . AyresAssociates . com 25