Does the Portland Airport really need a new carpet?
The Port of Portland is planning to blow $2 million on it this summer.
The Port has way too much money to play with. It may take changes in state law to do it, but we need to take some of it away and use it pay for the rest of the things that are falling apart around here.
| Posted at 10:38 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (27)
Agreed! We were just flying in and out of PDX three weeks ago and saw nothing that looks like it's in any dire need of replacement. With the new Port Authority Building BOONDOGLE coming; it's way past time to have an elected Board and for TriMet to have one too. These insider lawyers, union shills and political hacks all need to find a new job not on the public dime.
Posted by Dave A. | February 10, 2010 11:09 AM
That's a lot of carpet. Will the old carpeting be re-purposed in a sustainable, green sort of way, or just go to the landfill?
Why new carpets now? Is Hoffman involved?
Posted by RANZ | February 10, 2010 11:13 AM
It's okay. It says that's only Phase I. For a second there I was afraid they were going with a cheap carpet.
Posted by Allan L. | February 10, 2010 11:24 AM
Yep, right after the City starts paying for gender-reassignment procedures.
sigh...
Posted by HMLA267 | February 10, 2010 11:27 AM
I believe the important questions here are whether they got the best deal possible and did they talk to Carpet Carl before buying.
Posted by none | February 10, 2010 11:51 AM
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
-P.J. O'Rourke
Posted by David E Gilmore | February 10, 2010 11:55 AM
And they still can't afford install radar tracking at the Hillsboro Airport. Good thing they have another runway to increase the traffic and improve the chances of collisions. Geniuses.
Posted by Alex | February 10, 2010 12:02 PM
Don't worry Allan, it may yet be a cheap carpet, just at a high price.
Perhaps the "Axminister" carpet they're promising us isn't a typo, but rather an Axminster ripoff...
Posted by Thomas | February 10, 2010 12:06 PM
Axminster - it's British.
http://www.axminster-contractcarpets.co.uk/
Posted by dg | February 10, 2010 12:16 PM
The Port has an engineering staff that's size is second only to ODOT and those folks need to busy themselves with doing something.
What would you have them doing otherwise?
Posted by Abe | February 10, 2010 12:36 PM
If they call Empire Today, they can buy carpet for one terminal and get two terminals FREE!
Posted by RJBob | February 10, 2010 12:58 PM
The Axminster site does state:
"We are one of the few companies in the UK to offer a 'fleece to floor' process..."
Hmmm, I think the Port of Portland is specializing in the fleece part.
Posted by oregbear | February 10, 2010 1:13 PM
Zimmer Gunsell Frasca is the firm doing this remodel and it involves a lot more than carpet:
http://archrecord.construction.com/projects/bts/archives/transportation/portland/specs.asp
From what I can find, Axminster carpet is not sold by any carpet wholesaler or retailer in Portland. Axminster is coming out with a "carbon neutral" line, but the specs say it's just basic nylon carpet, which runs somewhere around $45 per meter according to a carpet wholesaler web site in Britain.
Me, I'd go with a good click together laminate with a 30-year-life, which you can probably buy at several places in town for less than $4 a sq. ft. I hate carpet.
BTW, check out the number on Jack's link underneath the $2 million for carpet. The $85 million for runway repair and improvements makes the carpet cost chump change.
Posted by Gil Johnson | February 10, 2010 1:17 PM
ZGF is doing the new headquarters and parking garage. The carpet replacement is a different deal. It's $2M just for the carpet. That's a lot of carpet.
I'm surprised the Port's not going with uber "sustainable" Interface:
http://www.interfaceglobal.com/default.aspx
Hey, if Axminster is good enough for Royal Albert Hall, it's good enough for PDX.
Posted by dg | February 10, 2010 1:52 PM
Empire could also get that s*** installed tomorrow!
Posted by none | February 10, 2010 2:15 PM
If you've got one of those new iPhone apps you could go to PDX and take pictures of the carpet to send to the city.
Posted by darrelplant | February 10, 2010 3:04 PM
The old carpet will be recycled by hanging it off of the east side of the Federal Buliding
Posted by ld | February 10, 2010 3:37 PM
I have a trick question for ya'll.
What's the difference between the PDC commissioners, TriMet Coimmissioners and the Port of Portland Comissioners?
Careful now.
Posted by Ben | February 10, 2010 3:42 PM
From inside sources, I heard that ZGF Architects have stipulated that all of their electricity generated by the four windmills on top of their downtown building must be cap-and-traded to Axminster to spin all the nylon.
Of course I've only seen the windmills spin one out of twelve times I've looked up-and at a very low speed. I wonder if they or Oregon Energy Department will ever do an analysis of how taxpayers benefit from the 80% tax subsidies for the windmills?
Posted by lw | February 10, 2010 4:03 PM
So how much in tax dollars do these characters at the port still take in yearly?
Posted by Michael H. Wilson | February 10, 2010 4:45 PM
Ben - I'll bite - though Bill McDonald can come up with something funny -
their terms have different expiration dates?
Posted by umpire | February 10, 2010 6:11 PM
I was wondering how long it would take for Allan the alleged Port dude to rhyme in.
Posted by cros | February 10, 2010 6:23 PM
"really need a new carpet"
That actually was one of the few sustainable things they did at the airport was the carpet squares. You could rotate them or replace as needed.
Once this carpet goes bad, the whole section gets torn up and that wing shut down for a couple days.
Be happy they haven't hear of eco-roofs.
Posted by Steve | February 10, 2010 9:43 PM
Oh there is an eco roof already there...the birds have been depositing guano on the glass for some years now. it is almost thick enough to start planting!
Posted by Portland Native | February 10, 2010 9:52 PM
I agree wholeheartedly that new carpet at the airport is a huge waste of money.
My concern comes from the idea that "they have too much money so we should take some away." Wait! Stop! That idea is at the root of class envy--"they've got more than me, so they should give me theirs." It's also at the root of many of the current BDS budget problems...BDS was making money; they had an emergency fund. SamRand couldn't bear to see a pot of money sitting there so they appropriated it, leaving BDS with its pants down when the economy tanked.
I think a better approach to the Port would be to have them reduce their taxes and fees so they don't collect as much of our money in the first place.
Posted by Michelle | February 11, 2010 9:04 AM
"What's the difference between the PDC commissioners, TriMet Coimmissioners and the Port of Portland Comissioners?"
They can all spell the same word three different ways in the same sentence?
Posted by Not that "Steve" | February 11, 2010 4:01 PM
http://www.portofportland.com/PDFPOP/Audit_POP_Annual2009.pdf
Airport Revenues: $206 million
Revenues from taxes: $0
Airport Expenses: $170 million
Airport Profits: $36 million
Total Port tax revenue: $8.7 million
Attributed to airside operations: $0
Attributed to marine operations: $8.7 million
It's a waste of money, but at least the Port's airport system MAKES money. And for $8.7 million to support the marine operation...it's a bargain compared to the $5 million TriMet spends on WES, plus $3 million for the Streetcar subsidy...Fred Hansen's salary, benefits and so on is another $300,000.
Posted by Erik H. | February 11, 2010 8:27 PM