The Multnomah Villager

In case you haven’t been to Gabriel Park this weekend, the skatepark is open. After staggering over to the park with Sally the dog (after like 2 too many beers at Journeys last night) we went up on the hill and watched the skaters tear it up for a while. It’s a great facility. Looks like a good addition to the park. Sitting on the grass watching the skaters is a good time, since I’m WAY too old to start skateboarding. Head on over there and take a look, but not now.. Woof! It’s hot. The dog and I will probably head back over to the park a little later again if a breeze kicks up, until then, I’m hiding out in the house.

So we’re walking the dog over to Gabriel Park yesterday in the dead of winter, and Jr V runs into one of his classmates on the playground. The only other kids there actually, did I mention it was cold? They’re playing together for a while and I’m sitting on the high curb in the back wrangling the dog when I notice a car driving down the walking path through the park. It was that certain late model of US car that indicated either older person or government employee and sure enough, there’s a City of Portland sticker on the side door. Two guys in the car, big yellow and green magnetic stickers reading “RANGER” on the back fenders of the car. The CAR. that they were DRIVING down the walking path of Gabriel Park.

I guess the park is officially patrolled. Well the path anyway.

How is it that I have NEVER seen hide nor hair of anything labeled “Ranger” in all the years I’ve lived here. And what exactly are they hoping to spot from the car?

Either way, the whole thing seemed odd. And this patrol would have only worked on a day like today - they’re not driving down those paths on any normal weekend day when it’s warmer than 40 degrees, cause it’s wall-to-wall people.

Odd.

They’ve started work on the Gabriel Park skatepark. We noticed that fencing had gone up last weekend. It probably has been up for a while, but what with all the rain and winter and all, I haven’t been over to Gabriel Park in ages. Anyway, there’s a big backhoe-type thing over there now and it’s moved a LOT of earth already. Here comes the skatepark. Ready?

Jr. V and I recently headed over to Holly Farm park, to check things out, and for me to find out where this park actually is. It’s over by the Library on Capitol Highway, and it’s really nice. There’s a large grassy area with new sidewalks circling the park, and a circular forum/gathering area at the NW corner.

The sidewalks are perfect for some scooter action, which Jr. V quickly discovered and overall, this park is a great little area to visit. Ironically, this is the first actual park in the West Portland Park neighborhood.

There’s a new playground with a nice range a equipment for little kids. Those of us who live near Gabriel Park can only dream of a layout like this. There are a couple of picnic tables near this area.

But of course the main attraction here is the skatepark. It’s a bowl, with a couple of entrances, rails along the edges, and a good assortment of drops, banks and other features. Both time that we’ve been there, there have been an assortment of teen and twentysomething (and a few older) skaters taking turns busting moves out in the bowl. All the skaters that we’ve watched have been practicing great ethics, waiting for the previous skater to exit the bowl before dropping in themselves, and watching out for spectators and younger kids. I suspect that people who oppose skateparks on the grounds of the parks attracting “the wrong element” would be surprised after spending an hour or so watching a lot of these kids use the park.

We’ll go back early in the AM one of these days so Jr. V can kick around on his scooter before the skaters show up for the day. He’s not to the skateboard stage yet, which is probably a good thing for our insurance rates. Down there in the upper bowl are some of his friends, including Sean who he was at West Hills Early Childhood Learning Center with. Small town, this. Holly Farm is a great park. There was a recent article in the SW Connection about its official opening, thanking among other Amanda Fritz, whose blog I often link to, and who is running for Sam Adams’ seat on the City Council. Great work everyone- hopefully this is a sing of how things will be at Gabriel, once “our” skate park gets built.

Here’s an interesting story about the park’s evolution at the Portland Park’s Foundation’s newsletter.

Additional Links:

• Holly Farm Page at Portland Parks website
• Post about the Park’s opening on Amanda’s Blog
• Holly Farm Category @ Skaters for Portland Skateparks Blog

Been getting some great stuff in comments lately, much of which deserves to be seen on the main page. I really appreciate all the comments that I get, thanks everyone!

This is a week or so old now, but a commenter tells me of an unfortunate situation over at Gabriel Park

Speaking of park safety, our van was broken into in the south parking lot while my son and I were walking in the park today. The passenger side glass was shattered. Just a word of warning to anyone who might park over there.

So you might want to take the usual precautions, and be a little more watchful that usual. I know it’s easy to get used to the relative safety we have here and get lax with leaving stuff in your car, leaving a door unlocked, or (especially timely in the summer) a window open. Of course, even if you don’t do any of these things, you can still be the victim of a property crime. Smash and grabs are rare though - it’s unfortunate to hear this…

Russell Senior from Personal Telco tells me…

Just wanted to mention that Personal Telco installed a node in the Lucky Lab in Multnomah Village about a week ago. This has been in the works for some time, but only just recently did it get off the ground. Sorry for the delay! If other folks would like to host a PTP node in Multnomah, please contact us (info@personaltelco.net). Thanks!

This is totally cool news - I’ll schlep my PowerBook up there shortly and check out the signal.

Scandal!

JUICY SUITS: Saab and Volvo Dealer Fingered for Rip-Off
http://www.wweek.com/wwire/?p=9079

It’s one thing for a car dealer to sell a lemon. It’s quite another to take the car back and give no money in return. That’s what one customer claims happened at Saab and Volvo by Mats, a dealership at 3011 SW Canby St., in a lawsuit filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Customer Vicki Cohen accuses the dealership and its owner, Mats Almfeldt, of selling her a 1999 Saab 9-3 in January 2006 for $9,141 without telling her it had once been totaled.

Come out to the Multnomah Center tonight from 7:00 - 8:30PM to review and comment on the design for the upcoming skatepark at Gabriel Park. This is the second of two of these open houses. Not sure what room these are in, but there will surely be signage. Multnomah Art Center is at 7688 SW Capitol Highway. Call 503-823-6191 with questions.

Couldn’t make it to the whole meeting, but I did stop into the Gabriel Park Skate Park Community Open House. There was a good-sized group, primarily made up of skaters, who were contributing suggestions and feedback on the design features when I arrived. It seemed a little chaotic, mainly since the group of folks (older folks, not skaters) two tables in front of me insisted on having a completely separate conversation during the entire meeting.

Most of the suggestions were about the finer points of the design of the park, which since I am not a skater, don’t mean a lot to me, but it seems like the main points that came out of the meeting are as follows:

• There is a strong push towards making this a primarily “tranny” park, and only the late arrival of some pre-teen skaters towards the end of the meeting may have saved ANY street features in the design.
• There is concern among some members of the group, and primarily among the aforementioned younger folks, that there be various skill levels accommodated in the design. The current design is not for beginners.
• Many folks seemed to think the current snake run design could stand to have a bit of a curve towards one end.
• More curbs man, more curbs.
• The park eventually will have some sort of a roof or cover on it - perhaps similar to the open cover on the basketball courts at the Multnomah Center.
• The design team is very interested in the comments of skaters and community members, but at this point mostly skaters, since they’re trying to lock the design. There is a link to the comment form below.

Here’s a CAD of the preliminary design. Based on all the feedback given at the meeting, this is certainly subject to change, particularly the balance of tranny to street features and several people suggested ringing the skate park with “rideable” planters, which would help alleviate noise concerns.

Here is a link to the comment form. Comments need to be submitted prior to July 6th.

I’ve posted about this enough that I’m adding a category for skate park posts, since I’m tired of linking them up by hand. Click on the category list to the left to find all my posts related to the skate park, or for those of you reading this on an RSS feed, try this link: All Multnomah Villager posts tagged “skate park”.

The next open house will be on July 31st at 7PM at the Multnomah Center. Tuesday’s meeting was in the auditorium, so check there first.

Come out to the Multnomah Center tonight from 7:00 - 8:30PM to review and comment on the design for the upcoming skatepark at Gabriel Park. This is the first of two of these open houses, the second will be next month on Tuesday July 31st, also 7:00-8:30 PM. Not sure what room these are in, but there will surely be signage. Multnomah art Center is at 7688 SW Capitol Highway. Call 503-823-6191 with questions.

There are two community open houses to review and comment on the design options for the new skatepark at Gabriel Park, says the flyer that arrived today. I know all of you have one of these, but for those friends OUTSIDE the immediate area, here’s a scan of the schematic of the skatepark area, showing where the skatepark will be, and where the additional 10 parking spaces will be added.

The open houses are on Tuesday June 26th, and Tuesday July 31st from 7:00PM to 8:30PM at the Multnomah Art Center (7688 SW Captiol Highway, 503-823-6191)

I’ve posted about the skatepark several times, the most recent post is here (Gabriel Skatepark Update and NIMBY Alert) . For the record, this ‘blog gets a fair amount of traffic from Google and Yahoo by people searching for skatepark information. There’s definitely a lot of interest in this facility, on both “sides”.

The Gabriel Park skate park specific section of Portland Online has all the details, here.

Helpful commenter and friend of this blog Cate posts this as a comment, but it deserves a post of its own:

Join Portland Parks & Rec, Friends of Vermont Creek, and SOLV for SOLV-IT Earth Day in Gabriel Park! Come help battle the infamous invasive plant: ENGLISH IVY!! Promises to be a fun day of celebrating the earth….rain or shine! All tools and training will be provided; dress for the weather, wear sturdy shoes, and bring water to drink. Family friendly, all ages welcome (children must be accompanied by an adult). Meet the group at the bulletin boards near the tennis courts at 9am. Event will go until ~1:00pm.

Contact name: Marissa Dorais
Phone: 503-823-7016
Email: marissaaurora@gmail.com

Here’s some more info from SOLV’s site:

Project Activities: This project will remove trash and ivy from a forested section of Gabriel Park (near Vermont Creek) that is in ecologically poor health due to invasives, litter, and other disturbances. The health of this area will be immediately improved and will be prepared for planting native plants in the future. Activities include: Cleanup, Invasive Plant Removal, Litter Pickup.

Safety Issues: Steep Slopes, Water Body on Site, Uneven or Slippery Ground.

Recommended Minimum Age: 6

Volunteers To Bring: Work Gloves

This event is scheduled for this coming Saturday, April 28th.