A helpful man whom I should've helped by saying, "Sir? Sir? You're sweatshirt's rode up your back!" Plus another tidbit. And a bonus, even.

Just before I stopped, turned and took this photo, I had sat down to rest for a minute or so on a park bench more to the left than any of these you see. It was dry; it faced the sprinklers which were behind the benches across from it; I felt safe. I had noticed the man in the sweatshirt, down at the intersection of the sidewalks--more to the right of this photo--working on some sprinkler-related equipment in a hole in the ground, down on his knees. He stood, turned to walk towards me, saw me sitting there and said as he approached, "You're not gonna want to sit there. Trust me."

I figured a sprinkler man knew what he was talking about, so I stood up, thanked him and made my way on down the sidewalk so that I could finish my nine blocks between buses which I'm now doing every weekday morning. I couldn't resist taking a photo. And, despite the title that I've given today's post, I only noticed that his sweatshirt had rode up when I took a look at the photo to see if it would work for the blog. I think it works fine and is more interesting that the other two that I took.

About the park, it's in downtown Portland, a complete city block across the street from another complete city block that is also a park. It's known as Lownsdale Square and across the street is Chapman Square. I well remember the first time I rode the 14 bus headed east on the street at the south side of Chapman Square, mesmerized by the great big trees and all of the green, green grass in the midst of city buildings; there's even another complete city block park across that street to the south--Terry D. Schrunk Plaza. It's federal property, not city, and is on top of a parking garage for a federal building across the street to the east of the park. All three blocks are gorgeous in all seasons, in all weather.

Found on the Internet: Chapman and Lownsdale Squares occupy two city blocks just east of the Multnomah County Courthouse and the Portland Building. Historically, Chapman Square, with its all-female grove of gingko trees, was designated for women and children, while Lownsdale Square was for the men. The squares were originally mirror images of each other, with restrooms on either side. Over time, a seemingly-random collection of monuments has been added to the parks, but for the most part the parks remain identical.



Here's the other tidbit. I took this photo a few weeks before. I couldn't resist the cell phone photographer along with the park--this is Chapman Square.



And a bonus. Here's a photo I took a day later, looking from Chapman Square south across the street to Terry D. Schrunk Plaza. Of the three, it's the only one with flowering plants, azaleas and rhododendrons.

Lownsdale Square, oh to able to stand in the park again

This photo was taken Oct. 16, 2007, as I stood in Lownsdale Square, looking south towards the Thompson Elk and Chapman Square. The TriMet bus heading west on SW Main hides the elk's legs as it makes the curve around the statue's base. You can tell how the ground rises as you walk west through the park. Today on the bus before and after work, I saw the fences around both parks. The only evidence I noticed of any restoration progress was the complete absence of lots of park benches. The original estimate I read in the Oregonian and posted on here on December 3 mentioned "Replace two park benches, repair seven benches: $16,500." It was not mentioned which park or if these benches were spread between both parks. The missing benches I noticed were all in Chapman Square. The bus stopped at the intersection is on SW 4th Avenue. At the time that this photo was taken, the downtown Transit Mall had been moved to SW 3rd and SW 4th while SW 5th and SW 6th underwent extensive renovation, part of which was the addition of the MAX Green Line.

Lownsdale Square, a couple of walkers

Enjoying the sunshine on May 1, 2009, a couple heads toward the center of Lownsdale Park. Children play on the base of the Soldiers' Monument, Douglas Tilden’s monument to the Oregonians killed in the Spanish-American War. Found on the Internet about the monument: "Dedicated on May 31, 1906, the tall granite obelisk is topped with a bronze replica of an infantryman of the Second Oregon U.S. Volunteer Infantry, part of the first large American fighting force ever sent overseas. At least two people sit side-by-side on a park bench in the sun. At the base of this monument are two small cannons from Fort Sumter (misspelled on the plaque) brought here by Colonel Henry E. Dosch. Because the cannons were used by both Union and Confederate troops, it was Dosch's idea to face one north and one south." You can see one of the black cannons beneath the left elbow of the man in the blue jacket.

At some point in 2012, various groups of people will once again enjoy the sunshine in Lownsdale Square.

Lownsdale Square, downtown Portland, live saxophone

August 26, 2008, I heard this man playing his saxophone while I was in the park at lunch time. Such a pleasant experience, one that I want to enjoy again once the parks are restored. Those park benches are a whole lotta fun, too. Comfortable to sit on, and you can usually take your pick of sunshine or shade, on sunny days at least.

A citizen and citizens who occupied Portland going in opposite directions. Who will ultimately pay the price for Occupy Portland?

Starting Monday I will share with you various photos I've taken over the years of both Lownsdale and Chapman Squares. I need to see the parks as they were. I need to see people enjoying all sorts of activities in two of my favorite downtown places.


Monday morning on the way to work, November 14, 2011. I waited on the corner across the street from Lownsdale and Chapman Squares to the north and Terry Schrunk Plaza across the street, east of where I stood. The three parks occupied headlines because someone or someones in Occupy Portland decided to put up tents and take away these glorious outdoor spaces in the heart of downtown Portland, to take them away from more than 99% of Portland's citizens. The woman walks east on SW Madison; the other two are heading west. It is the intersection of SW 4th and SW Madison. The trees of Chapman Square are in the background.


In another photo of the same intersection which I took that morning, across the street you see Chapman Square glowing in the street lights and in the giant temporary lights brought in Saturday night by authorities. The golden leaves on the ground are beautiful but are an allusion. Nothing is as it was.

The day before I took the two photos, after midnight and during Sunday, police and protesters managed to make the Occupy Portland exit from the parks relatively peaceful. I sat up all night Saturday watching events unfold on TV--the mayor had announced that the parks would be officially closed at midnight. Hours passed with tension building and waning. Finally I couldn't stay awake in the recliner in front of the television. But I did wake up now and then to see fewer and fewer people and police on the streets. Then I went grocery shopping with Lamont and came back home to put it all away and fall asleep some more in the recliner. By the time I woke up for good, both parks were cleared and lots and lots of trash and garbage was being tossed into huge city dump trucks. Each park was enclosed in extra-tall cyclone fence segments. The damage done to Terry Schrunk Plaza, a federal park, was minimal compared to the two city parks. Nevertheless, it is also fenced.

Now all citizens have learned the expected costs to restore Chapman and Lownsdale Parks. Here is an article about it from the November 30, 2011, Oregonian:

Headline: Occupy Portland: Costs to fix parks now more than $85,000, city says

Restoring Chapman and Lownsdale squares after the 38-day encampment of Occupy Portland will cost more than $85,000, with much of that going toward repairs in the bathrooms at the northern and southern ends of the squares.

Portland Parks & Recreation also estimated that it spent an additional $45,000 for labor and materials during the political demonstration that began Oct. 6 and ended with a police sweep Nov. 13. At its height, the encampment sheltered and fed about 500 people living in tents.

"City professional staff in ecology, turf, and structural engineering assessed the damages and needs for repairs," a city statement said. Also on the survey were arborists, plumbing contractors, electricians, risk management employees and other experts.

"Workers did not encounter any evidence of obvious soil contamination," the statement said. The impacts on the squares' trees will not be known until the spring or later.

The item of greatest cost is repair of the Lownsdale Square restroom – removal or replacement of three destroyed toilets, one pedastal sink, plumbing in the walls, wall-mounted braces and floor attachments. The city estimates that task alone will cost about $28,000.

A yet-to-be-determined cost is a possible sewer repair in the Chapman Square restroom.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council is still assessing the damage to the public art and war memorial and has not put in a cost estimate yet.

The bureau now will work on a timeline for repairs. The squares have been fenced since Occupy's eviction and will stay that way for now. Once the parks are reopened, grass areas will remain fenced until the turf has recovered.

The bureau says it is eager for volunteers to help. A planned leaf-raking last week had to be postponed due to heavy rain, but the bureau had more than 60 people signed up – about a third of them former campers – to help.

The nonprofit Portland Parks Foundation has set up the Restore Our Historic Squares Fund to help defray costs.

Umpqua Bank has contributed $25,000, and nearly 100 private donors have given $8,000.

Here's the city's itemized list:

Repaint restroom interiors, exterior trim at Chapman and Lownsdale: $2,200

Steam clean surfaces - restroom interiors, benches, poles: $3,000

Replace two park benches, repair seven benches: $16,500

Replace five chain stands, one chain section: $4,000

Power wash paths: $1,600

Soda blast exteriors of bathrooms to remove graffiti: $1,100

Rake turf to remove leaves and debris: $600

Install erosion control for turf: $1,000

Winter turf care: fill low areas, hydro mulch, lime, fertilize, seed, enzymes: $8,100

Spring turf care: fine grade, slice seed, top-dress: $3,800

Prune shrub beds to correct damage, replace damaged plants, fertilize, mulch: $4,000

Inspect, monitor trees: to be determined

Place soil to cover exposed tree roots: $750

Chapman restroom, clean sewer, inspect, repair as needed: $600

Chapman restroom, repair sewer as needed: to be determined, potentially up to $7,000

Chapman restroom, tile and grout repair: $700

Chapman restroom, reinstall door, jamb and frame: $2,500

Both restrooms, refurbish octagonal windows, includes frames, reglaze: $2,300

Lownsdale restroom: remove or replace three destroyed toilets, one pedestal sink, repair plumbing in walls, wall-mounted braces, floor attachments: $28,000

Lownsdale restroom, repair door lock: $100

Lownsdale restroom, tile and grout repairs: $1,800

Temporary fencing: $3,200

-- Anne Saker


A view of the same intersection five days after the occupiers took over the parks, taken on October 11.


And here it is again, in a photo that I took on November 3.

To answer my own question, I believe it will be the citizens who pay the price. Whether or not the various occupy events around the country make an economic and/or cultural difference remains to be seen. After all, change takes time.

Lownsdale Square, for the Eighth Floor of a Parking Garage

I took this photo on Feb. 25, 2010. Look at the street at the top of the photo. See the circle in the center of the street? The Thompson Elk is in there, behind the tree trunk.

Here's some info on the square, from the Internet: Lownsdale Square, SW 4th Ave. & Main St.
Historical Information

Lownsdale is one of two courthouse squares that comprise the Plaza Blocks which are bounded by Third and Fourth Avenues and Salmon and Madison Streets. The north square is named for Kentuckian Daniel H. Lownsdale, who settled in Portland in 1845 when there were fewer than 800 people living in the city. The south square is named for former Iowa territorial legislator and native Virginian William Williams Chapman (1808-1892) who arrived in Portland in 1850.

The Plaza Blocks were lively places where orators held forth and citizens assembled. They are characterized in part by several large old elms and gingko trees. Chapman Square, originally designed for the exclusive use of women and children, features all female gingko trees. Lownsdale Square was to be the "gentlemen's gathering place." Today the Plaza Blocks are still a busy gathering place, although men and women can now safely coexist in either of them.

In the center of Lownsdale Square stands the Soldiers' Monument, Douglas Tilden’s monument to the Oregonians killed in the Spanish-American War. Dedicated on May 31, 1906, the tall granite obelisk is topped with a bronze replica of an infantryman of the Second Oregon U.S. Volunteer Infantry, part of the first large American fighting force ever sent overseas. At the base of this monument are two small cannons from Fort Sumter (misspelled on the plaque) brought here by Colonel Henry E. Dosch. Because the cannons were used by both Union and Confederate troops, it was Dosch's idea to face one north and one south.

Another war memorial, dedicated to the men killed in service in the Philippines, is found in Lownsdale Square. Fountain for Company H, installed in 1914, was donated by the mothers, sisters, and wives of Company H of the Second Oregon Volunteers. John H. Beaver, an architectural draftsman, won the honor of designing the limestone fountain and a $50 prize in a citywide contest.

Between the two Plaza Blocks, Main Street curves around a huge elk fountain given to the city by David P. Thompson. Thompson arrived in Portland driving sheep over the Oregon Trail. He served as Portland's mayor from 1879-1882. One day looked out of the office window in his New Market Building at the Skidmore Fountain and decided that he wanted to dedicate a fountain to the city as well. Thompson commissioned Roland Hinton Perry, whose work adorns the Library of Congress and the dome of the Pennsylvania state capitol, and in 1900, he presented the city with a bronze elk fountain to commemorate elk that once grazed nearby. Local architect H.G. Wright designed the stone base of eastern granite, which included drinking troughs for horses and dogs. The Exalted Order of Elks refused to dedicate it because they considered the statue "a monstrosity of art." Many have tried to have Thompson's elk removed because it can be considered a traffic obstacle, but the elk statue remains. In 1974, after a debate about disturbing the blocks in order to complement the then-new General Services Building, Thompson's elk and the Plaza Blocks were designated as Historic Landmarks.

TriMet Bus Stop ID 12767

May 15, right after work, the sun shone, folks came out in droves and a gentle breeze wafted through the trees in Chapman and Lownsdale Squares on each side of SW Main, bordered on the west by SW 4th and the east by SW 3rd. Glittering in shafts of sunlight like golden disks attached to invisible cords, tiny leaves fluttered to the sidewalks and green grass.

People waiting for the bus in Portland get help from informative signs and labels. SW 4th heads north with alternating bus stops grouped as X, Y and Z. See the white sign on the right that points the way towards each one? Then there's the blue and white sign at this stop on the corner of SW 4th Avenue and Main, an X, that lists each bus that stops there. The sign in the plastic-covered rectangle shows a map of SW 4th and the corners where each of the X, Y, and Z stops is located, as well as the A, B, and C stops on SW 3rd Avenue. Finally you've got the lighted sign above the bus windshield which announces the bus route number and either the most prominent street or road on the route or the transit center at the end of the route, words that help the rider make the correct choice before boarding the bus.


SW 4th & Main in Portland going north, Stop ID 12767

Served by

12-Barbur Blvd
12-Sandy Blvd
17-Holgate
17-NW 21st Ave/St Helens Rd
19-Glisan
19-Woodstock
94-Sherwood/Pacific Hwy Express

Amenities

Shelter
Stop is on the near side of the intersection
Bench near stop
Sidewalk near stop
Schedule display

When I first walked up to the stop after disembarking at SW 2nd and Main, from the bus that brought me over the Willamette, commuters waited in large number.

Increments of time passed and people boarded each bus that stopped, leaving fewer on the sidewalk.



About 15 minutes, only a few were left waiting, like me. When the 17 came, I got on happily only to find that, while it was a newer-style bus, the air conditioning did not work and the slender slivers of windows that opened did little to alleviate the aggravating warmth in close quarters. When the driver explained that another 17 was right behind him and it's A/C worked, I got off at the next X stop and changed to that 17, bound for home Trader Joe's and home.

Leading up to ABC Wednesday: R is for round and in a row.

Barricades on SW 3rd Avenue, in front of the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse. This building is directly across the street from Lownsdale Square Park, the park that is north of the Thompson Elk Fountain.

I thought I saw a golden tree. Tell me, please, do you agree?

That's Madison Street, with the vehicles. When I drove through the park Sunday night, going right to left, the street lights illuminated the leaves. I could not believe what I saw--the gingkos had started to change from green to gold. I'm extremely enthusiastic about these trees, so I warn you up front--I have gone overboard posting photos today because I wish for you to feel how I felt, in perfect awe of nature's beauteous changes.



Remember the tree from Monday's post, the one with the huge burl? I took this photo standing to the east of where I stood to take the other one. Are you as shocked as I am to see that it resembles a tuning fork from this angle? That small pile of leaves makes it look like someone raked a while, got tired, and walked away.



Now you can see the Thompson Elk Fountain from a different direction. Notice the traffic? I took these photos between 5:15-5:30 p.m. There's always loads and loads of traffic which is a great big reason why I ride the bus and/or walk. In fact, I rode a Number 4 across the Willamette, over the Hawthorne Bridge, about 15 minutes prior to the one in the next photo.



I think the curve of the sidewalk looks romantic. Not that I think the street sections that encircle the elk statue look that way. Do you think it's the chain-and-post barrier that makes it appear that way to me? Afterall, the curves follow the same line which you can see even better in the photo below.





Sidewalks segment both Chapman and Lownsdale Squares. This one goes from Madison northeast to Salmon at SW 3rd, in Lownsdale Square. Later on we'll go into detail about the monument in the circle. In the photo below, you see the same sidewalk, looking southeast.





The western edge of Lownsdale Square is SW 4th Avenue. In this photo, you're looking due south. Those are the same orange cones you saw in the first sidewalk photo. A remote van for a local TV station had placed wires across the sidewalks and lawns. Can you find the van in this photo?

Think back to yesterday's photo. Remember the green trees in a row, just to the left of the chain-and-post barrier? I took these next three photos standing beneath one of them, a gingko in the early stages of going from green to gold. I love the way it looks against the orange and rust-colored leaves of the taller tree. The wind blew just enough to move the green limbs, so I put the camera setting on sport. With that help, I managed to get some photos and/or portions of photos that I think turned out pretty good.