The Pioneer Courthouse Square is affectionately known as Portland's living room. It is a public space occupying a full 40,000 ft² (3700 m²) city block in the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. 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.
The Pioneer Courthouse Square has its own water fall which sits on SW Broadway between Yamhill and Morrison. In the late 1970's the City acquired this land for use as a public square. Architect Will Martin designed the square and the Pioneer Courthouse Square Waterfall Fountain in 1983.
Since the late 1970’s, when the city acquired the land for public use, Pioneer Courthouse Square has been called “Portland’s Living Room”—and at its center has been this mesmerizing, multi-level cascade of water. After deteriorating substantially over time, the city commissioned over $120,000 to completely restore this civic treasure in 2006. The Pioneer Courthouse Square Fountain in the heart of “Portland’s Living Room” has full capacity of cycling 900 gallons per minute while the upper trough recycles 300 gallons per minute of water.
In early 2006 the Portland Water Bureau completed a major restoration of this fountain. The total cost of the work was approximately $122,000. The project took care of leaks, repaired places that had corroded over time, restored bronze mask features in the trough part of the fountain, cleaned all granite surfaces and regrouted places that needed it. The project replaced membranes beneath granite surfaces that prevent leaking.
