Portland’s City Council on Monday will once again take up the question of what to do with Congress Square Plaza roughly six weeks after voters blocked – at least temporarily – plans to sell part of it.

The potential sale is one topic that councilors are expected to discuss during a 5:30 p.m. workshop. The city’s attorney will also present several options about how to reconcile differences between a parks ordinance passed in April by the City Council and the parks referendum endorsed by voters on June 10.

Congress Square Plaza is likely to dominate the discussion, however.

Last year, a divided City Council voted to sell two-thirds of Congress Square Plaza – also called Congress Square Park – to the developer Rockbridge Capital for $523,640 in order to build an event center on the property. Rockbridge Capital renovated the adjacent Eastland Park Hotel before reopening it as the Westin Portland Harborview.

But the June referendum blocked that sale and the city’s related renovations to the plaza. In order for the sale to proceed now, one of two scenarios would have to play out.

The faster scenario is that at least eight councilors sign off on the transaction – an extremely unlikely outcome, given the earlier divided vote and ensuing months of controversy. A more likely scenario is that the council refers the question to the Portland Land Bank – a public commission established to protect certain city-owned properties from development – and to the city’s Parks Commission.

Lastly, Portland voters would be given final say over a proposed sale under that scenario. City spokeswoman Jessica Grondin said that, should councilors decide to continue pursuing a sale through either of the above scenarios, the item could be placed on the council’s Aug. 4 agenda.

Meanwhile, discussions about the fate of Congress Square Plaza have continued since the June vote.

Bruce Wennerstrom, general manager of the Westin Portland Harborview, said the hotel’s redevelopers “always have been and still are” interested in acquiring part of the plaza. But Wennerstrom said they are open to ideas about how to proceed.

“Saying we are ‘re-evaluating everything’ is a fair statement,” Wennerstrom said. “But from Day 1, we have been trying to find a solution that works for everybody.”

The hotel has worked in recent months with the organization Friends of Congress Square Park to clean up and beautify the plaza, which was often described as having been “neglected” by the city. The Friends group arranged to bring in platform seating as well as colorful chairs and tables. The addition of a popular food truck has also helped breathe new life into the plaza.

Individuals on either side of the contentious June referendum are now urging the City Council to revive the 15-member Congress Square Redesign Study Group to resume its work on crafting a compromise plan for the plaza. They also want the study group to expand its purview to recommend ways to improve the busy intersection at Congress Square.

Six leaders of the competing referendum campaigns – Protect Portland Parks and Forward Portland – have sent a letter to councilors and Mayor Michael Brennan asking to revive the study group.

“Now that the divisive referendum is behind us, we have an opportunity to draw on the community energy and interest in this once forgotten park to create a world-class urban open public space – an oasis in our dense urban center – that coalesces the diverse neighborhood surrounding Congress Square Park,” the letter says. “The redesign of this important public space is a legacy project for our community. We must strive for excellence.”

Monday’s meeting will be held less than a week after Portland officials announced a new initiative to develop a long-term vision for the city’s parks, green space and trails. Working with The Trust for Public Land and Portland Trails, the city plans to solicit feedback from local residents about ways to improve the city’s open spaces while allowing additional development, especially for affordable housing.

Bree LaCasse, one of the leaders of the Protect Portland Parks committee that led the referendum campaign, said she was optimistic about both conversations regarding the future of Congress Square and Portland’s open space needs.

“I think they work well together,” LaCasse said.

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