Owl Plaza in Grants Pass: Why Downtown Kept Its Parking

"It is a hybrid space, so it is going to continue to serve as public parking, but will also be able to be used for various events," Community Development Director Bradley Clark told KOBI in March, the week crews started tearing up the intersection at 5th and G.

Six months later the city announced the result. The new Owl Plaza was finished during the week of Sept. 21. Its first live music will be at Art Along the Rogue, which runs Oct. 2 through 4. When the festival's out-of-town visitors leave, it will go back to holding cars. That isn't a compromise. The city built it that way, and the reason says a lot about how downtown Grants Pass already worked before any pavers went in.

The Lot Had a Calendar Before It Had a Name

The city-owned lot a block off Highway 99 was already one of downtown's informal gathering spots. It hosted Art Along the Rogue every year and the city's Christmas tree lighting. The project didn't invent a gathering place. It rebuilt one that was already in use.

The name comes from the painted wall that overlooks the lot. The Owl cigar mural is an advertisement from the 1930s. It was hidden behind a neighboring building for decades and turned up again after a fire in the 1970s. Because it was done in lead-based paint, it has weathered in place ever since. Clark said the city was "very intentional about preserving and keeping this historic mural for Grants Pass and not disturbing it in any way." The owl in Owl Plaza is a faded cigar ad from before the Second World War, and the new plaza was built around it.

What More Than 1,000 Survey Answers Asked For

Clark described the idea as something that had been "brewing for decades" in Grants Pass. The design that finally got built came out of public input collected through 2023. The city set up booths at local festivals, including Porch Fest, and got more than 1,000 responses to a community survey.

According to Clark, the main message in that feedback was to keep some parking while making the space more useful. The design reflects that. The plans KOBI described included a sail-style shade structure, string lighting over 5th Street, new benches, and a curbless edge so the plaza blends into the street. The city's bid documents list the less visible parts. They include 5,867 square feet of raised concrete intersection, 13,688 square feet of pavers, 12 architectural streetlights, a new electrical system, and one line item worth remembering for December: a Christmas tree vault and stand.

The $1.6 million project was paid for by the Grants Pass urban renewal agency. It rebuilt the intersections of 5th Street with both G and H streets. Residents paid for part of the surface, too. The city sold engraved bricks for $250 each and expected more than 450 to be available. By the end of August, brick sales had raised nearly $50,000. City staff then set the custom-engraved brass plaques into the bricks near the sidewalks at 5th and H. If you bought one, that's where to look for it.

Three Months Behind, One Week Ahead of the Festival

When Vitus Construction closed the 5th and G intersection on March 16, the project was scheduled to be done by June 30. It was actually finished the week of Sept. 21, about three months late, with just days to spare before the festival that had always used the lot.

This year Art Along the Rogue takes over 5th Street between G and I and H Street between 4th and 6th. The 2026 theme is "Reflections," and 42 chalk artists are coming, seven of them from out of state. Sharyn Chan and Joel Yau are returning to work together on a 3-D piece. Jennifer Chapparo, who is coming for the first time, is doing a 3-D piece as well. Cole McKenzie won last year's People's Choice recognition, and his artwork is on this year's festival T-shirt. Youth teams from Grants Pass High School, Hidden Valley High School, and the CoCreation School in Williams are back, each with a 10-by-10 space.

The rest of the festival is spread out the same way it always has been. The 67 craft vendors will be in the Osprey Parking lot and along H Street between 4th and 5th. Four food trucks will park on H Street near 4th: 541fusion, Blaze-N-Monkey's, Clucking Cow, and Jimmy's New York Style Street Dogs. Blaze-N-Monkey's belongs to Patrick and Misti Hoadley. On Jan. 1 they also took over Jimmy's Classic Drive-In, and they kept the food truck running.

Festival hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. 5th Street between G and the alley will stay closed on Monday, Oct. 5, so people get one more day to see some of the featured work. If the Saturday crowds aren't your thing, that Monday is the quietest time to see the chalk. The full band schedule is in the city's festival release.

Downtown's Other Lots Already Do This

Owl Plaza is the only downtown lot rebuilt for a second use, but it isn't the only one with one. During Art Along, the Osprey lot fills with vendor tents. Every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Grants Pass Growers Market sets up in the Grasshopper Parking Lot at 201 NW F Street, on the corner of F and 4th. The market's site doesn't give an end date for the outdoor season, so check before you plan a late-fall Saturday around it.

The survey responses asking to keep parking start to make sense here. Some of downtown's most dependable weekly and yearly events already take place on pavement that holds cars the rest of the week. Owl Plaza doesn't change that arrangement. It adds the shade, lighting, benches, and curbless edge that a parking lot used for events needs.

October Around 5th and H

Owl Plaza is the newest thing downtown this fall, but the rest of October stays close to the same few blocks.

On Oct. 7, Cartwright's Taprock NW Grill becomes Cartwright's on the Rogue, with a 3 p.m. ribbon-cutting, menu changes, and interior updates. Visit Grants Pass lists the restaurant at 971 SE 6th Street.

Rogue Harvest Fest is on Oct. 23 and 24, in historic downtown and along the river. It includes Harvest "Rogue" Bingo, fermentation and wine-pairing workshops, and cooking demonstrations. The Harvest Crawl with local wineries starts at 4 p.m. on Oct. 23, and the weekend ends with the mixology party at The Haul on Oct. 24. Cartwright's Market is partnering with Main Street Grants Pass and Visit Grants Pass on the event. The Haul is a gastropub at 121 SW H Street, on the same street as the plaza.

During the construction closures, DASSH Bakery at 102 SW 5th Street stayed reachable from the sidewalk. With the streets reopened, it's easy to pick up a coffee on the way to the chalk. Las Margaritas Kitchen opened over the summer at 1305 NE 6th Street, north of the core.

The biggest October event outside downtown is Fort Vannoy Farms' Harvest Festival at 5791 Lower River Road. It runs Oct. 1 through 31, with an 8-acre corn maze, a pumpkin patch, a cow train, a pumpkin chucker, and hayrides.

The Tree Vault Is Waiting on December

Owl Plaza's second big test will come in winter, when the old lot used to host the city's Christmas tree lighting. The bid documents included a permanent vault and stand for a tree, so the plaza was built for it. Clark has also talked about renting the space out for other community festivals. The first event on the new pavers is Art Along the Rogue, with three days of chalk art and live music starting Friday, Oct. 2, at 4 p.m.

A rebuilt parking lot that still parks cars is a good example of Grants Pass making room for the life it already has instead of starting over. At Homes By Shelley Oaks, we follow changes like Owl Plaza closely, because the blocks around 5th and H shape what downtown living feels like day to day. If you'd like to talk about what the area's recent updates mean for your own plans, let's connect.