O-Bryant Square

O'Bryant Square Fountain dominant feature is a bronze fountain in the shape of a rose so-called "A Fountain for a Rose" is located at at SW Park and Stark of Portland, Oregon. It is a gift from Donald Card Sloan, a Prime Minister of the Royal Rosarians in 1953. The inscription in the fountain reads, "May you find peace in this garden." O’Bryant Square Fountain was installed in 1973. Built mostly of brick and concrete, It was designed by Danile, Mann, Johnson and Mendenhall. It was funded by the Sloan Foundation, the Portland Rose Society, and received grants from the City of Portland and the US Government.

According to the stories, the site where the fountain is is supposedly near the clearing where W.C. Overton and Asa Lovejoy agreed to found a town in November 1843. The square was named after Hugh Donaldson O'Bryant. He was a pioneer who migrated from Georgia to Oregon in 1843. O'Bryant was elected as Portland's first mayor in the city's first election on April 7, 1851. He was a carpenter who showed his civic pride in 1850 when he founded Portland's first public library.

In the early 1900s, the Rivoli Theater and the Basket Grocery were the two best known features on the block. The property was donated to the city by Mr. and Mrs. William E. Roberts in 1971. There were built by Robert S. Farrell, business and political leader and one of the founders of the Multnomah Athletic Club. The Rivoli Theater was famous for its vaudeville acts. At the beginning of World War II, with stage acts a thing of the past, it was renamed the Newsreel Theater. The grocery was one of the finest gourmet delicatessens in Portland for 50 years before it was closed in 1969.

The fountain is surrounded by 250 rose bushes and other plants. Beneath the fountain's jets is an underground parking garage which accommodates 90 cars, making it the first park with parking in the city. In 1976, the O'Bryant Square received a national design award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.