Are city leaders about to spring off the diving board to restore shuttered Columbia Pool? Evidence is mounting that the answer is yes.
and city staff member.
“For the first time in many years, PP&R is spending money to protect and maintain Columbia Pool,” said Chris Manno, chair of the Friends of Columbia Park (FOCP).
One example is that the Parks Bureau has begun soliciting bids to immediately start work to ventilate and tarp the pool building to prevent deterioration of the structure. That decision marks a 180-degree change in policy from previous PP&R plans to demolish the building in March when Mayor Keith Wilson dramatically ordered then-Parks Director Adena Long to stop the scheduled demolishment three days before bulldozers were to raze the historic structure. Long resigned as parks director in July, receiving a $140,000 severance as part of the agreement.
All three North/Northeast Portland council members – City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Dan Ryan and Sameer Kanal – support FOCP’s call for an independent assessment to determine pool restoration costs.
Pool advocate Chris Forney, an Arbor Lodge resident, is skeptical of the Parks Bureau estimated $21 million to $30 million price tag to restore the pool. “Those figures were just from a Parks Bureau ‘staff report,’ and not from a professional independent assessment,” said Forney, an architect and sustainability consultant. Forney estimates that professional structural assessment of the pool could be done for $30,000 to $60,000 and restoration would be between $7 million and $30 million, depending on what’s needed for the building to perform its services and be economical to run and maintain.
Suzanne Bishop, a leader with the Portland Parks Foundation, sees momentum shifting on Parks funding issues. “The new Portland City Council is deeply concerned about the Parks Bureau’s $600 million maintenance backlog and is helping persuade the city to seek more private-public partnerships, such as Columbia Pool and other under-maintained parks in the city,” she said.