January 08, 2003
Ice Rink Questions and Answers
Courtesy of Pioneer Courthouse Square, Inc. comes the following questions and answers about the proposed ice rink. For some reason, they will send this to you if you email them, but they haven't bothered to just post it on their website.
Q: WHY AN ICE RINK?
A: The Square does not provide the activities for families that it offers in warmer months.
And, of course, the response is to outfit the Square, for four months out of the year, with an ice rink which prevents anything other than family-friendly skating from easily occurring in that space.
Q: WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF AN ICE RINK?
A: While the Square bursts with activities from spring through the fall, the winter months are slower. Among the more than 254 annual event days, only four occur between November and March. During this time, Portland's "living room" is largely underutilized. The Rink will serve a number of community needs, fulfill its original mandate, and fill the Square with affordable, attractive activity during its slow winter season.
Actually, it would be more proper to say that only four events with advance scheduling occur between November and March. In ten days, the next major antiwar rally will be occurring in the Square, but that's not an official or traditional use of the Square during the winter months. And since when is "take over the Square purely in order to boost area commercial interests" the equivalent of "a number of community needs" being served?
Q: HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
A: The total cost to build The Rink will be $7.9 million. A $2.4 million endowment will cover all operations costs.
For what it's worth, they answer the question as to from where this money comes later on. I don't know why they didn't just put it here.
Q: WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE BRICKS?
A: Nothing. Each individually-engraved brick will remain intact year-round. During the time the Rink is open each year, some bricks will be covered -- as they are during other Square events.
I continue to have no idea if this is true or not. Although I no longer have the article, I'm certain that someone, somewhere, raised the possibility that the slight slope of the Square's floor makes it likely that the floor would have to be levelled off in order to put an ice rink on top of it. Perhaps that someone was mistaken. This would be a good question to ask at the public workshops.
Q: HOW LONG WILL THE RINK STAY UP EACH YEAR?
A: From the day after the Annual Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony through mid-March. The Rink will be open 15-17 weeks each winter.
Right. And that is, of course, not merely the "winter months" but four months (seasons are three months long) -- a full one-third of the year.
Q: WHAT HAPPENS IF IT RAINS?
A: The Rink will be fully covered during inclement weather by six giant, upturned umbrellas, designed specifically for this project by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca. The whimsical umbrellas, varying in height from 25 to 40 feet tall, will open upward. The cover will permit light to shine through and keep out the rain. Each umbrella will operate interdependently.
I like these umbrellas, I really do. I'd like them even more if they were above a rink in, say, the Park Blocks somewhere -- where they could also be used as shade from the sun during the months when the rink is closed.
Q: WHEN WILL THE RINK OPEN?
A: November, 2004.
Well, we will see about this one, won't we?
Q: HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO SKATE?
A: The cost of admission will be $6.50, with skate rentals $2.50. This cost is comparable to other rinks in the region.
Q: WILL OUR TAX DOLLARS PAY FOR THE RINK?
A: No direct tax dollars will go toward the funding of The Rink. 80% of funding will come from private sources, 10% from urban renewal funds, and another 10% from the downtown Business Improvement District.
Q: WILL THE RINK HELP DOWNTOWN PORTLAND?
A: According to a Portland Business Alliance study, pedestrian traffic in the streets around the Square drops by as much as 24% in the months following the holidays. As identified in a Portland Development Commission study, the Rink will enable downtown to continue to thrive as a center for art, culture, entertainment, shopping, fine dining and business, drawing 429,000 additional visits each winter season.
Now, I don't dispute the idea that the attraction of an ice rink might very well help the downtown area during the winter months. I certainly don't have an issue with downtown continuing "to thrive as a center for art, culture, entertainment, shopping, fine dining and business." But none of that is enough reason to sacrifice the presumptively public space of the Square, replacing it for one-third of the year with an enterprise which despite an "operating endowment" will be charging admission.
In the end, the push for an ice rink is coming from the same sphere of downtown commercial life that originally wanted the Square to be enclosed and to charge admission. They are interested in Portland's "public life" only to the extent that we are speaking of the public's life as consumers.
Yes, commerce (as I've disclaimed before in these rants) is crucial for any downtown to thrive. But not at the expense of the public life.
Q: WILL THE RINK AT PIONEER COURTHOUSE SQUARE COMPETE WITH OTHER AREA RINKS?
A: Pioneer Courthouse Square will offer a unique and high-profile skating opportunity in the heart of downtown Portland, attracting people who may not otherwise seek to skate at other indoor rinks. Area operators support the idea because it will draw business to their rinks.
I'm not sure how that would work exactly; the logic escapes me. But whether that means I'm just naive, or the rink operators are naive, or the above is a disingenous suggestion of support from area rink operators, I have no idea. I don't recall any news stories on the rink in which area rink operators were asked about their position. If I missed one, someone please point me to it.
Q: WOULD A RINK AT THE SQUARE CONFLICT WITH OTHER EVENTS AT THE SQUARE?
A: While the Square hosts more than 254 event days each year, only four of these are held between November and March. As the Rink will cover only approximately 25% of the Square, only one event will be displaced.
We covered the first part of this answer up above. As for the second part -- the mythic 25% coverage -- I've written about that several times already. But to repeat myself: When it comes to the 'bowl' of the Square (the gently-sloping floor upon which most public activities occur in the Square) the truth is that almost all of its usable space is consumed by the ice rink. When looking at the total Square, the rink takes up one-fourth. But when looking at that part of the Square that is used for public activity and assembly, there will be no room for anything but skating.
Also, please note what appears to be a glaring inconsistency in the above. Here they claim that "only one event will be displaced" -- and yet in the past they've reassured opponents they the rink can be closed up and covered over to allow for other events to occur in the Square.
Which is it, Pioneer Courthouse Square, Incorporated? Will events be displaced, or will the rink be covered up to allow them to continue? Is the rink, after all (and as has always seemed likely to me) a structure that is for all intents and purposes permanent for four months out of the year?
Q: WHO WILL RUN THE RINK?
A: The Rink will be managed by Pioneer Courthouse Square, Inc. which will contract with a rink management company to handle all day-to-day operations.
At this point, all that's left is to offer a reminder: Beginning next week, a series of public workshops will be held to discuss the proposed ice rink. Be there. Tell them to build it someplace else.
Comments (2)
The One True b!X on 08 Jan 2003
The URL to this entry has been passed along to the representative of Pioneer Courthouse Square, Incorporated from whom I received the original Q&A document.
We'll see if anyone from PCS Inc. shows up to offer any response.
Jack Bogdanski on 09 Jan 2003
"No direct tax dollars will go toward the funding of The Rink. 80% of funding will come from private sources, 10% from urban renewal funds, and another 10% from the downtown Business Improvement District."
There's some weasel language for you. No "direct" tax dollars. Excuse me, what are "indirect" tax dollars? I'll bet you "urban renewal funds" are paid by taxpayers, and I doubt that the downtown Business Improvement District is a voluntary club. Plus, remember, this is what they said to sell the tram, and now OHSU and the real estate boys are looking to the city for a big handout to build it. Once they got their Council approval, all of a sudden it's a "public transit" project.
"Area operators support the idea because it will draw business to their rinks."
I'll believe this when I hear it from the other operators.
In sum, the tone of these answers makes it quite clear to me that this train is on the track. Rumor has it that Mayoral Candidate Blumenauer wants the skating rink. And you've got to suspect that ex-Mayor Goldschmidt's involved.
Good luck fighting this one. You are going to need it.