Tramcesconi
In yesterday's Tribune article on the new look of Jim Francesconi's campaign to become mayor of Portland, the candidate specifically mentions the OHSU aerial tram as among his proud accomplishments. (I noticed him doing the same thing in another recent interview, but I can't find it at the moment.)
Anyhow, does he think he's going to close the gap with that one? Instead of "push" polling, he ought to take a poll on what the public thinks of the projects he's touting.
UPDATE, 5:17 am: Big news in The O this morning: The Schnitzer family is donating to OHSU their huge chunk of land just south of the Marquam Bridge. Even a skeptic like myself must admit that there's going to be a very impressive OHSU campus down that way some day. But the transportation issues just get bigger as the size and spread of the project increase. And the city's share of the costs is still way too big.
| Posted at 2:42 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (9)
"Even a skeptic like myself must admit that there's going to be a very impressive OHSU campus down that way some day." - Jack Bogdanski
Praise Jesus! I thought I'd never see the day.
I was always knew there was a little more than just cynicism behind that tough Bojack exterior.
Posted by catalyst | June 16, 2004 7:59 AM
You know, now that I know he'll be campaigning on a Vespa, I'm reconsidering my vote. A bold move.
Posted by Jeff | June 16, 2004 9:38 AM
At least this *hole will be gone after Potter beats him. I just hope that the rest of the city council is replaced with good people soon. Anyone remember Mike limburgh?
Posted by Pan Fried | June 16, 2004 9:47 AM
This was in the Willy Week this morning. It earned the OHSU a Loser of the week.
Oregon Health & Science University earned the fire-red LOSER brand this week when it announced the January 2005 closure of its Doernbecher Pediatric Practice in Oregon City. At the very time OHSU looks to push along its $28.5 million aerial-tram project with an assist from public coffers, the 7,000 patients will be out of luck due to "budgetary reasons," according to medical director Dr. James Resk.
Not what I would call a "Proud" moment.
Posted by zenwanderer | June 16, 2004 9:02 PM
I have a stinking hunch that the Schnitzer's decision was not entirely altruistic. I think the choice given them was probably "donate the land, or bear the cost of the environmental clean up". The land that OMSI sits on was "donated" by PGE for the same reason.
Posted by Dave Lister | June 17, 2004 8:16 AM
According to the O's article yesterday, the land's value and immediate builability is due to the fact the land already meets environmental standards (i.e. clean-up has already been done).
But, heck what fun would this blog be without innuendo, rumor and groundless speculation.
Posted by auggie | June 17, 2004 10:48 AM
You got me Auggie. Of course, we can always rely on the O for accurate and verifiable reporting.
Posted by Dave Lister | June 17, 2004 12:56 PM
As far as being environmentally ready to build, I'd sure like to see the PCP content of the soil under OMSI.
Posted by Dave Lister | June 17, 2004 12:59 PM
Update on the Schnitzer donation. According to today's Oregonian "Schnitzer avoids final cleanup cost by giving riverfront land to OHSU". The article further says that the State-ordered cleanup would have cost 20 to 30 million.
Posted by Dave Lister | June 22, 2004 9:06 AM