Friday, May 29, 2009

Eyesore for an Eyesore on Council Crest

Only a team of bean-counters, engineers and bureaucrats could pull off the project that is taking shape in the middle of magnificent Council Crest Park.

I wrote about this tower project when it was first proposed. It is turning out as ugly as I had imagined.

What’s happening is that one Erector-set ugly monstrosity (on the right) is being replaced with a virtual twin (on the left). A construction crane is in the middle.

All this in the name of emergency communication, which shouldn’t justify ugly.

A great opportunity was lost at Council Crest. A graceful, arching tower would have been a landmark admired from miles around.

What we have is an eyesore — a symbol of a city lacking vision.

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3 Comments:

Anonymous WestHiller said...

This city has enough "art" type projects. The stupid tram cost way more then it needed to because people wanted to make it look more "artistic."

We have lived with the current tower at council Crest for a long time, replacing it with another isn't going to hurt anything. People in Portland need to start looking at costs, not just design!

7:11 PM  
Anonymous torridjoe said...

I'm not sure I understand the point. There was already a tower there, this is a replacement, not an additional tower. It can't be half the size; for EC purposes it has to be unequivocally tall enough to broadcast without interference.

So what's the alternative? And I think the idea that you can make a comm tower into a beautiful landmark is a bit farfetched to begin with.

7:20 PM  
Blogger OB12OLD said...

I lived just down the way from the television tower (Fernsehturm) in Stuttgart, Germany, for several years and admired the sight of it. In certain circles it served as a symbol of the city. Take a look [http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/ENG/leisure/fernsehturm.htm]. Wouldn't something like that be a welcome addition to Portland?

10:06 AM  

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