By WADE NKRUMAH

This article originally appeared in the The Oregonian on April 27, 2004.

The board that manages Pioneer Courthouse Square will consider, in a meeting today, possible activities to bring life to the square during the winter.

The ideas grew out of public workshops launched by the board last year after taking heat from the public when it initiated -- without public discussion -- a plan to establish a covered ice rink in the square in winter.

Some criticized the board not only for the idea but also for failing to involve the public. Business leaders were divided over the plan, despite pledges of financial support from some businesses, including The Oregonian.

The two workshops, each three hours long, were intended to broaden the discussion beyond the idea of a rink. The workshops were managed by New York City-based Project for Public Spaces, which was hired by the board to help evaluate how the square functions and to expand its scope.

Kathy Madden, vice president of the organization, said the report will include comments and suggestions from 65 people who participated in the workshops, which were conducted by her organization.

Madden said the sessions focused on addressing ways to improve access to the square and programs held there, with an emphasis on creating more activities between New Year's Day and late spring.

"We asked: What three things could be done that would improve this place that wouldn't cost a lot of money, short-term and long term?" Madden said.

She said many suggestions centered on making the square's retail shops more visually identifiable; adding seating, particularly for small children and senior citizens; and redesigning the square's public transit waiting areas to make them less fortress-like.

"I think people felt that the edges of the square, on several sides, sort of cut it off, and it actually felt smaller than it really is," Madden said.

Zari Santner, director of Portland Parks & Recreation, said she is pleased with the board's outreach efforts -- particularly inclusion of people who use the square and hold activities there.

Madden said the idea of a winter ice skating rink was not discussed at the workshops held this past March. "It was talked about as an event," she said. "A skating event is different from putting a skating rink in."

She said the sessions were productive. "I feel that both the Pioneer Square organization and the people in the community have really come a long way in coming up with ideas," Madden said.

The board will meet at 11:30 a.m. at Salon Ballroom in Hilton Portland Executive Tower, 545 S.W. Taylor St.

Wade Nkrumah: 503-294-7627; wadenkrumah@news.oregonian.com