Cheers: To The Portland Loo. The new Vancouver Waterfront Park includes the latest innovation in public toilets. That might not be the kind of thing a city highlights in tourism brochures, but it sounds like a good idea. The facilities have graffiti-proof walls, blue lights that stymie intravenous drug users, and open grates that reveal whether the loo is occupied but still offer privacy for somebody inside.
A decade ago, Seattle spent $5 million on five self-cleaning public toilets that quickly became hideouts for drug users and prostitutes. The Portland Loo, which has been installed at 15 sites in its namesake city, is a much less costly improvement over the failed Seattle experiment. We hope it lives up to its potential at Vancouver Waterfront Park and eventually makes financial sense for other locations in the area. Who knows? Maybe some day Vancouver will brag about its public toilets.
Jeers: To slipping and sliding. The weather report says the skies will be sunny and dry for the next several days, but this week provided a reminder of what often happens when that changes. Wet roads put a damper on the Monday morning commute with a series of car crashes — including a chain reaction wreck along state Highway 500.
When this current streak of dry weather turns gray and wet, remember that roads are particularly dangerous following the first rain. Experts say long dry periods allow oils and other fluids to build up on roads and then be released with the first rain. Let’s all keep that in mind when fall begins to look like fall again.
Cheers: To the Old Apple Tree. It’s a bit past its prime, but Vancouver’s 192-year-old landmark is still alive and is worthy of celebrating. So the Old Apple Tree Festival took place last week to honor what is believed to be the oldest apple tree in the Northwest.
Notably, the old tree continues to spawn new generations, and caretakers handed out cuttings with instructions for turning those cuttings into a new tree. The Old Apple Tree also continues to bear fruit, although the apples are better suited for cooking than eating fresh. Most of all, the tree remains a source of wonder, considering that it was planted on British land when John Quincy Adams was president of the United States.
Jeers: To an unexpected roadblock. Runners in Sunday’s Portlandathon — a series of road races that included a marathon — were delayed more than 20 minutes by a freight train that came to a stop in the middle of the course. Some runners turned it into an obstacle course, climbing between the train cars to continue their run. Others simply had to adjust their target times for the race.
Union Pacific officials said mechanical issues on an earlier train caused the blockage of the route and apologized to the racers who were impacted. Portlandathon was a qualifying race for the famed Boston Marathon, and organizer Paula Harkin said of the delay, “It’s like my worst nightmare, actually.”
Cheers: To a more visible downtown sculpture garden. More than two decades ago a sculpture garden was created in a plaza along Broadway, but it was seldom visited. Furthermore there were plans for seven sculptures, but only four were ever installed. Over the years the garden faded into the background, visited mostly by office workers from the adjoining building and street people.
Now the four sculptures have been cleaned up and moved to a much better location adjacent to the Vancouver Community Library. Library patrons who use the parking lot can see the art, as will those seated in the comfortable area near the library’s massive windows. Perhaps more can join them there someday.
