Ice follies with Chainsaw Rubio
I see that the City of Portland is going to have an ice rink set up in a tent under the west side of the Morrison Bridge beginning December 16. This supposedly will attract people to downtown during the holiday shopping season (at least, the last week of it). The parks department owns that land now, and city commissioner "Chainsaw" Carmen Rubio has taken a break from enriching her construction buddies in order to be the cheerleader for the rink.
“As we’re coming out of COVID and reopening downtown, we really wanted to do whatever we could to incentivize people to come back downtown to shop at local businesses,” Rubio said.
Oh dear, the current mess is still Covid's fault? Come on, Commish, everybody's been vaccinated for two years.
Forgive me if I'm skeptical of the whole ice rink idea. They're saying it's the fulfillment of a longstanding dream, but if I recall correctly, that dream was fulfilled years ago wth a part-time rink at Pioneer Courthouse Square. I believe it was during Mayor Bud Clark's time. For some reason it was discontinued.
If that picturesque location wasn't viable, moving the tent under a bridge doesn't sound like it's going to be a smash success. The last time that location was in the news was last month, when a homeless guy (not an angel) was killed in a hit and run on a ramp to the bridge. Unsurprisingly, no one's been arrested, or even named as a suspect, in that one.
At a time when park maintenance is being held hostage citywide, the wisdom of spending $8 million plus transaction costs to buy derelict property to add to the neglect pile isn't apparent. I'm sure the seller was well-connected and beyond relieved to get to bail on the city's hollowed-out core.
Speaking of questionable wisdom, there's the proposition of going to downtown Portland in this day and age to ice skate. You certainly don't want to be leaving your car unattended down there. And the bus or the train is also a roll of the dice. You Uber in and out, I guess.
Anyway, the fun will happen through January 28. I hope I'm wrong. Maybe it will be a big hit. But it looks more like an act of desperation. Let's hope nobody gets hurt too badly.
"You Uber in and out, I guess." - you've got it. The company that I work for was holding an event downtown and originally suggested that people use the Smart Parks...until someone thought better of it and suggested Uber instead. This was the same day that an Uber driver was carjacked downtown. D'oh!
ReplyDeleteFirst———fix the problem. Not just the usual senseless blue ribbon meetings. Actually do something to fix the problem.
ReplyDeleteThen you can talk about doing the fun things from yesteryear.
This.
DeleteWhen it was in 'Portland's Living Room' it was a very small rink inside a tent so no Rockefeller Center. It was like most promises in Portland not meeting the least expectations. So putting it under the Morrison Bridge at least isn't setting anyone up for disappointment. A Depression Era Soup Kitchen might be a better investment. Hey, Buddy can you spare a dime?
DeleteExcellent illustration
ReplyDeleteDoesn’t the city already own an ice rink at Veterans Memorial Coliseum? Why not use that?
ReplyDeleteAnd there’s convenient parking
Delete“Coming out of COVID and reopening downtown” ????
ReplyDeleteI would have maybe given her that a year ago, but not anymore. It’s an expired and ridiculous excuse now, and Chainsaw is burying her head in the sand as usual and not acknowledging the real problems in downtown.
The riots killed downtown Portland. Not Covid
Delete