Thompson Elk Fountain
Homecoming Celebration

Sunday, April 12
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

The City of Portland, Portland Parks Foundation and Regional Arts & Culture Council are hosting an event to celebrate the return of the Thompson Elk Fountain. Join us for this community celebration honoring the Elk’s history and significance to Portland.

Programming and Entertainment

Here’s what you can expect on April 12.

• 1:00 p.m.: Event Starts - DJ

• 1:30 p.m.: Program Starts

• 2:15 p.m.: Ribbon Cutting

• 2:30 p.m.: Performance by IN A LANDSCAPE: Classical Music in the Wild™, food trucks, community booths, free activities.

• 4:00 p.m.: Event ends

Bring your appetite too - onsite food trucks include:

• Montage

• Lily Fire Coffee

• Bobablastic

• KOi Fusion

Project Partners

Design Team

Construction Team

Event Sponsors

Historic Memory Maker

Friends of the Elk

John W. Russell

Suzanne & John Bishop

Anonymous

Other Event Partners

Prosper Portland
Shiels Obletz Johnsen
Downtown Clean & Safe
American SaniCan

Project Overview

The Thompson Elk Fountain is returning to its original location on SW Main Street!

The Thompson Elk Fountain was built in 1900 and named for its benefactor, David P. Thompson. Thompson served as Portland’s mayor from 1879 to 1882 and was a founder of the Oregon Humane Society. The bronze elk was sculpted by Roland Hinton Perry. The granite base and fountain were designed and built by H. G. Wright.

The Elk Fountain’s base was damaged by fires and had to be removed during 2020’s downtown social unrest. The bronze elk statue did not need any restoration work. It was cleaned and safely stored by the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) while the City worked on a plan to restore the stone base.

In May 2023, the Portland City Council voted on an ordinance to authorize the $1.5 million budget required to restore the Elk back to its original location, per a feasibility study commissioned by the Portland Parks Foundation (PPF). 

Collaborating with the offices of Commissioners Dan Ryan, Mingus Mapps, and Carmen Rubio and City Arts Program Manager Jeff Hawthorne, the City and PPF crafted a unique, innovative private/public partnership to bring the Thompson Elk Fountain back:

• PPF hired leading historic preservation firm, Architectural Resources Group, to commission full contract drawings for the design and engineering of the Elk Fountain’s restoration, complete with a seismic upgrade, a recirculating pump, and graffiti resistant coating

• The City, under the leadership of the Water Bureau, contracted the construction to restore the fountain working with Cedar Mills Construction and Pioneer Waterproofing.

• RACC cared for and will coordinate the return of the Elk back to its historic perch on top of the fountain base.

The fountain’s historic integrity will be preserved while using new technology to meet current standards.

• Parts of the granite fountain base needed to be remade from new granite sourced from the same quarry in Barre, Vermont that supplied the original stone.

• The statue was originally secured to its base with a single bolt. New seismically resilient attachments will increase the statue’s stability.

• A new recirculating water pump will make the fountain more efficient and save up to 18,720 gallons of water a day.

Getting to the Thompson Elk Fountain Celebration

The Thompson Elk Fountain is situated on SW Main St bordered by 3rd Ave to the East, 4th Ave to the West, Chapman Square to the North, and Lownsdale Square to the South. Paid street and parking lot parking are available in the surrounding area.

Public transportation

Get to the Thompson Elk Fountain using the TriMet MAX light rail.

• The Yamhill District MAX Station 8336 is five blocks from the event.

• The City Hall/SW 5th & Jefferson Max Station 7608 is three blocks from the event.

TriMet has many Bus Lines with stops within a few blocks of the event including Buses 6, 9, 10, 14, & 54.

Using Uber or Lyft

Rideshare services like Uber and Lyft make it easy to get to the celebration without the parking hassle. You can use Chapman Square address 210 SW Main St, Portland, OR 97204 as your drop off location.

Parking Options

If you need to drive and cannot find surface street parking, there are two parking garages nearby.

SmartPark 1st & Jefferson - 123 SW Jefferson St.

SmartPark 4th & Yamhill - 818 SW 4th Ave.

Power & Light Garage - 515 SW Salmon St.

Columbia Square Garage - 144 SW Jefferson St.

4th Avenue Garage - 920 SW 4th Ave.

Biking

There are Biketown stations and limited parking for personal bikes at SW 4th & Madison and another at SW 5th & Main.

Secure TriMet Bike & Ride bike parking is available at various Transit Centers and Park & Ride Locations.

For everyone’s safety, please walk your bike at the event site.

At the event

The stage will be next to the Elk Fountain on SW Main St. facing SW 4th Ave. You can enter and view from any direction, there will be seating in front of the stage along SW Main St.

Booths, food, and music will be located along SW 4th Avenue between SW Madison Street and SW Salmon Street.

Wheelchair accessible bathrooms will be available on SW Main St between SW 4th & 5th.

ASL interpretation will be available during the program.