December 31, 2003
More Weighing In On The Re-Resurrected Pioneer Courthouse Square Ice Rink Proposal
Starting with an editorial in today's Oregonian, we find support for the latest new proposal in the continuing string of new proposals which keep surfacing months after public opposition to previous proposals.
In fact, the newspaper, which has pledged money to the project (no doubt they'd get a nice banner advertisement at the rink site, just in case there's still someone around who doesn't know what The Oregonian is), says it is "delighted" that the proposal "has not simply melted away under the fierce heat lamps of public criticism."
It's difficult to find a decent pull quote from the editorial, which is chock full of utterly strained and cringe-inducing references such as "skate out" and "shaky ankles." But let's go with this bit:
We don't know too many details yet about the revised version of the Pioneer Courthouse Square ice-skating rink proposal, which recently resurfaced. But The Oregonian's Henry Stern reported this week that the new proposed rink would be smaller, less intrusive and take up less of the program year at the square. The original plan called for the rink to be in place for 15 winter weeks.
Gone are the huge, translucent inverted umbrellas in the original design that apparently didn't excite much admiration, but would have kept the rain off skaters. That's a practical matter of some importance.
Notice how the paper jumps right on board, without knowing much of anything about the proposal. You'd think, as sponsors, they'd perhaps know a little more than the rest of us plebes out here. At any rate, the umbrellas were never necessarily the great crime of the plan, and their loss (worthy or otherwise) unfortunately will probably result in not having a decent discussion about finding some sort of shelter for Square events -- no matter when they occur on the calendar -- less ugly than white canvas strung on metal poles.
The editors do, however, at least get around the asking the more important question, although a little smugly, and more than a little hypocritically: "If the ice rink isn't the right way to add excitement to the square in cold weather, what is the right way?"
Which is where this discussion should have begun.
Instead, self-involved and insular downtown businesses decided that they wanted a rink, with no small impetus, I'm sure, from Kim Kimbrough, known serial rink-backer in each of the two other cities in which he's played business-boosting roles prior to his recently-ended stint as head of the Portland Business Alliance.
And now we're stuck once again fighting over an insipid rink proposal that the people of Portland keep saying they don't want, rather than having a more widely-ranging discussion over potential Winter activities for the Square.
In fairness, the board of Pioneer Courthouse Square did, earlier this year during a previous regrouping over the disliked rink proposal, get around to expanding their internal discussion about Winter programming to include other possibilities. In fairness again, however, they failed utterly to make that expanded perspective part of any actual public discussion.
To the editors of The Oregonian: Your cynical slam on how the public damns you if you involve them and damns you if they don't is all very cute and clever. But if you could step back from your business chums for a minute, perhaps you'll realize that your newspaper has been backing the wrong damned debate about the Square the entire time. So much for the media helping us to more properly and intelligently frame the issues.
Meanwhile, this week's Portland Mercury mentions the rink in its recap of "bad ideas gone bye-bye."
But when the notion failed to catch the public's fancy, it slowly melted away. (However, a "scaled-down" version of the rink may still plague us in the new year. Stay tuned for details.)
But the award for exaggeration in the cause of reporting the truth of it goes to the "Winners & Losers" column in Willamette Week:
The five people in Portland who want an ice-rink on Pioneer Courthouse Square inched forward this week, circulating a scaled-back version of plans for installing a wintertime doodad in downtown's premier public space. The absence of detectable popular interest in said rink appears to be no deterrent to the crusade, spearheaded by parking-lot godfather Greg Goodman.
Who, heavens help us, better not end up being the person the Portland Business Alliance turns to in its search for a local replacement for Kimbrough.