You're not going to believe this
Gee, whaddya know, the City of Portland has bungled the pledged donation of $1.5 million toward building that park over Tom Moyer's new underground parking garage -- code name "Halfway to China" -- cater-corner from Nordstrom's downtown. It was a matching gift, and the city took its sweet time coming up with its half of the deal. So now the donor has walked. Suddenly there's a gap in the construction budget for the park.
No doubt this is one of the capital projects that Parks Director Zari Santner wants to raid the parks maintenance levy for.
Does this mean that the giant parking garage doesn't get built?
Bwahahahaha! Of course not.
Maybe there's still time to switch the surface improvements to condos.
| Posted at 1:54 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (15)
A sure indication that no dough will be forthcoming is when Laviolette says: "Things are fluid and in flux and moving,".
As in going down the drain.
You'd think Sten was "coordinating" things. What's $1.5M to him - small potatoes.
Posted by rr | April 18, 2007 2:06 PM
No, this is Saltzman's baby, which he adopted from the Scone.
Posted by Jack Bog | April 18, 2007 2:10 PM
If the city proposed growing hemp in the park then I'm sure Eric Sten's election contributors,(The nickel baggers), would come up with the "scratch".
Posted by James J | April 18, 2007 3:03 PM
Wouldn't it be awesome, and by awesome I mean horrifically symbolic, if they ran out of money and were left with a 200 foot deep hole in the middle of the Park Blocks?
Posted by Chris Snethen | April 18, 2007 3:34 PM
well maybe Grampy will take some of his supposed $75 million surplus and pay for it....what dopes. Or as Bugs Bunny would say "What maroons"
Never fails to amaze me.
Posted by kathe w. | April 18, 2007 3:41 PM
...this is Saltzman's baby, which he adopted from the Scone.
Quick, somebody call Adult & Family Services (or whatever new name they're hiding behind these days) - the state needs to step in and rescue the baby.
Oh, wait. That's why they changed the name.
Never mind.
Posted by rr | April 18, 2007 3:50 PM
Time to sell bricks again. We wouldn't want to take any of the excess taxdollars away from the pothole budget. Any farout social program you can think of the city godfathers will fund it, but not a park-it isn't glamorous. Plus, why use taxdollars on parks when the godfathers can always go to the voters with another levy. Who would be against parks?
Posted by lw | April 18, 2007 4:13 PM
Just another star in the constellations and galaxies of major accomplishments about which our benighted city council is proud...
...right Amanda?
Yet another example of the Council and its appointred bureau managers being incometent, and no councillor being willing to blow the whistle on another councillor's management foul ups......
...if there was one executive-- like a mayor -- responsible, the voters could punish thse kinds of foul ups at the ballot box....but in this system, never.
Which is the unspoken but none the less primary reason why the incumbent councillors and the wannabes like Fritz are so dead set against any charter change that could tie the can to a single responsible executive.
Posted by Nonny Mouse | April 18, 2007 5:47 PM
It's time to get creative. Close your eyes and picture the giant hole filled with sea water.
We could be the only downtown in America with its own killer whale exhibit.
Posted by Bill McDonald | April 18, 2007 5:58 PM
Shampu, the tolerant, sensitive, carbon-neutral killer whale.
Posted by rr | April 18, 2007 6:18 PM
OR..."they" could build another one of those parks you can't really use, like the one in the Pearl. No kids, no dogs, no sitting on the grass, just walk around the block and look but don't touch at the metal sculptures and the waters of
Tanner Creek seeping by.
OR... how about a salmon spawning station? "They" could spend lots of money on a salmon tram to transport the fish from the Willamette to the tank.
The giant poop shute could perhaps be modified to transport the fish to and from the river in the new sewer system.
Posted by Anne k | April 18, 2007 7:54 PM
Underground parking for cars. Isn't that a green oxymoron? Car exhaust in an underground box with nowhere to go but up.
Posted by Martin | April 18, 2007 8:09 PM
Actually, I'm the mysterious donor. However, my last name was deemed inappropriate for the city, and my request that Tom Potter dress in drag was unfortunately turned down.
Now that Rudy Giulliani is out in the open, I was really hoping for it...
sigh. oh well. Guess I'll have to move back to Phoenix!
Posted by The Countess | April 18, 2007 10:05 PM
Who do these people think they are? Trying to give money for parks.Harrumph!, the nerve. Don't they understand somewhere a developer is going to be enriched.? We have the low-down developer [ Parking hole] and we have the upward high ground developer [ building on top of the hole].And we have the city council and mayor getting their just rewards...being re-elected by the Portland Dim-Wits.
Posted by KISS | April 19, 2007 9:31 AM
Maybe they could build a tram to get to the top of the fox tower?
Posted by Gene | April 19, 2007 1:03 PM