December 22, 2002

Protecting Portland's Living Room

For those who still haven't heard, there are plans in motion to construct an ice rink in the middle of Pioneer Courthouse Square -- traditionally known as Portland's Living Room:

The seasonal Rink will be approximately the same size as the rink located at New York City's Rockefeller Center, a 60 x l20 square foot oval surface. Between the months of November and March, it will be set on top of the brick floor, running in a diagonal direction from the southwest part of the Square to the northwest corner and covering about 25% of the Square's surface area.
...
The Rink will operate on a 15-17 week format each winter. Pioneer Courthouse Square will market Rink activities and contract with a rink management company to handle the day-to-day operations. An admissions window, food service, skate rental and a changing area for skaters will support the seasonal ice skating activity. For those occasions when the community needs use of the Square, a fiberglass covering for the ice will be available.

In other words, what is supposed to be maintained as a flexible multiple-use public space will have one-fourth or more of its area devoted to a single use. While the planners are making noises about the rink's ability to be covered, it has been reported that significant changes to the Square would have to be made to accomodate any sort of skating rink.

Which in some sense is beside the point. No single technically-permanent use or structure should be permitted to dominate the Square at any time of year.

There are, of course, plenty of other downtown locations for a skating rink, many of which would not substantially alter the current nature of those locations. The same simply cannot be said of Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Fortunately, these sorts of planning processes involve periods of public comment. In this case, this period includes six "public workshops to receive information and comment on the proposed seasonal ice skating rink at Pioneer Courthouse Square" -- the dates, times, and locations of which you can find through the above link, which also provides contact information for public comment via the Square's email or postal addresses.

For the sake of context, Portland Parks and Recreation offers some history of the Square.

Posted at 11:49 PM | PermalinkComments (3) | TrackBacks (0)
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Comments (3)

  1. Jack Bogdanski on 23 Dec 2002

    Welcome to the blogosphere. The world needs more Portland-centric postings. So far it's you, me and a guy named beaverblog. Consider yourself linked, and best of luck.

  2. The One True b!X on 23 Dec 2002

    Technically, it's a welcome for the site, but not for me. I've had (and still have) various other weblog projects, in various levels of current usage. This is just me finally getting to launch my Portland-centric site now that the domain came through.

  3. The One True b!X on 24 Dec 2002

    Curious about just what the rules were regarding public use of Pioneer Courthouse Square, I sent email to Portland Parks and Recreation. Their response:

    Park Code sections, under Portland City Code Chapter 20, apply to Pioneer Courthouse Square. In addition, certain Park Rules (authorized under Portland City Code 20.04.040 - see below) are in effect for Pioneer Courthouse Square.
    The City Code is on the Internet, or hard copies available at the City Auditor's Office in City Hall. Park Rules for Pioneer Courthouse Square, are available at the Pioneer Courthouse Square Office, (503-223-1613), or Portland City auditors office (503-823-4008).
    The contract by which this city property is operated by the Pioneer Courthouse Square organization should be available at the City Auditors Office.

    I haven't yet looked through the city code. Just thought I'd post the information in the meantime.