Terry D. Schrunk Plaza

The Terry D. Schrunk Plaza on February 15, 2010

An unofficial addition to Portland’s Plaza Blocks is the next block south, the Terry D. Schrunk Plaza.

The Terry D. Schrunk Plaza on February 15, 2010

The Terry D. Schrunk Plaza is named after the mayor of Portland from 1957 to 1973, in honor of his efforts on behalf of the city.

The Terry D. Schrunk Plaza Plaque on February 15, 2010

Unlike the city-owned Plaza Blocks, the Terry D. Schrunk Plaza is Federal property.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial on February 15, 2010

The Terry D. Schrunk Plaza features a small Vietnam veterans memorial "in honor of all those who served during the nation's longest armed conflict" from 1964 to 1973. It was dedicated on Vietnam Veterans' Day, March 29, 1974, by the Federated Veterans' Council and the Mayor's Veterans Task Force.

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial on February 15, 2010

Another memorial in the Terry D. Schrunk Plaza is this piece of granite from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, "placed here to help us reflect, to heal, and to live" and dedicated by the Portland Federal Executive Board to the victims, survivors, and rescuers of the April 19, 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1996.

Lake Tai Rock at Terry D. Schrunk Plaza on February 15, 2010

The Lake Tai Rock was a gift from Suzhou, Portland's sister city in China.

Lake Tai Rock at Terry D. Schrunk Plaza on February 15, 2010

The United States General Services Administration provided accommodation for the gift in the Terry D. Schrunk Plaza in 1998.

Lake Tai Rock at Terry D. Schrunk Plaza on February 15, 2010

A plaque describes its significance as follows:

The Chinese believe that large, uniquely shaped rocks represent the potent power and wildness of nature, a tradition refined over 2,000 years. Objects like this 16-foot, 17-ton limestone, which have been naturally shaped by the waters of Lake Tai, are prominently displayed in Chinese gardens to evoke the grandeur of nature.

The distinct shape of the Lake Tai rock is an important quality to the Chinese. A prized rock must appear lean and bony with numerous holes and indentations. These special rocks are normally narrower at their bases and wider at the top, seeming to rise from the earth despite their weight.

This rock was personally selected by the mayor of Suzhou in honor of the strong sister city relationship between Portland and Suzhou. The four-character Chinese inscription on the rock reads "rare stone calls forth the spirit," an example of the symbolic and magical significance of rockery to the Chinese. At the base of the rock are reproductions of the 1996 agreements in Chinese and English, signed by Mayor Zhang Xin Sheng of Suzhou and Mayor Vera Katz of Portland. The Lake Tai rock stands in Terry Schrunk Plaza as a symbol of the long lasting friendship between the people of Portland and Suzhou.

Edith Green Wendall Wyatt Federal Building, February 15, 2010

The Terry D. Schrunk Plaza is federal property as it is in front of the 18-story Edith Green - Wendall Wyatt Federal Building, completed in 1975 and named for two former congressional representatives from Oregon.

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