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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2008)
INSIDE: SERVING Burlingame • Capitol Hill • Garden Home • Glen Cullen • Hillsdale • South Portland • Multnomah Village • Raleigh Hills • Vermont Hills • West Portland Volume No. 16, Issue No. 8 Should there be a permanent fence around the Wilson softball field? --Page 6 Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper www.multnomahpost.com Portland, Oregon Complimentary June 2008 New serpentine skatepark under construction at Gabriel Park By Polina Olsen The Southwest Portland Post It always amazes John Hartung. “If I tell people in, say, Austria I’m from Portland, they say – ‘that’s so cool.’” The owner of Rebel Skates, a local manufacturer of skateboards, Har- tung says people come from around the world to skateboard in Oregon. “Even tiny towns have wonderful skateparks. It’s not only the number but the quality.” Soon Gabriel Park will be among the best as Airspeed Skateparks works overtime to finish their snake run de- sign by July. “It’s a serpentine canal type thing with all sorts of features sprinkled amongst it,” said co-owner Geth Noble about the 10,000 square- foot space. In business since 2000, he and partner Stephanie Mohler have built skateparks from Ireland to Argentina as well as several on the Oregon Coast where they live. “We worked as employees or sub- contractors for other companies, and we decided we had to do it ourselves.” “It has lots of hips -- features you can blast airs over,” Noble said about the Gabriel Park project. “You go airborne on a skateboard,” explained Mohler, “like Superwoman.” And according to Mohler the sport attracts all ages. “People between two-years-old and 80 enjoy skateboarding. You get grand- parents with their grandchildren, fathers and mothers with their children or teen- agers on their own. Young kids from the neighborhood can walk here after school. What’s great about skateboarding is it gets kids out of the house and away from the television.” Mohler expects between 30 and 100 skateboarders each day from Portland and beyond. “People come from all over the world to ride,” she said, noting skateparks they’ve built on the Oregon coast draw riders from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa . “Think of it as like national parks. Skateparks are one-of-a-kind with obstacles and features that aren’t found anywhere else in the world.” Portland Parks and Recreation chose Gabriel Park for Portland’s next skate- park during a site-selection process. Good public transportation and prox- imity to the Southwest Community Center were key. “The environmental mission statement basically mirrored what we had on our website since 2000,” said Mohler. “It was very attractive to Stephanie Mohler, Geth Noble, Melissa Ballantyne, and Gavin Temple working at the Gabriel Skatepark site. (Post photo by Polina Olsen) us.” Airspeed Skateparks has built a bioswell [retention pond] to manage storm water and noise buffers to protect neighbors. They are careful to separate and recycle construction garbage. According to advocates, skateboard- ing is wildly popular. “If you go by places that have a skatepark, tennis court and baseball diamond – the skate- park is the one being used,” said John Hartung of Rebel Skates. He said the history of skateboarding in Portland goes back to the 1990 unauthorized project underneath the Burnside Bridge on the east side of the Willamette River. “The bureaucracy was so fouled up the kids finally went and started digging themselves.” Hartung recalled the Ross Island Sand and Gravel Company dropping off concrete seconds and the volunteer crew mixing cement. By 1992, the city threw in the towel and officially ap- proved the project. “I started at Burnside Skateboard (Continued on Page 4) Food Front Cooperative will open second organic grocery store in Hillsdale By Polina Olsen The Southwest Portland Post The bumper stickers they gave away said “Keep Portland Local.” The crowd lined up to join. More than 70 supporters came to the Hillsdale Shopping Center for the May 12 an- nouncement of the Southwest’s new cooperative grocery. Food Front, located in Northwest Portland since 1987, will open a second store in late summer 2008. The organic and natural foods market will occupy space once used by Nature’s Northwest and Wild Oats. “We’ve received so much support,” said Food Front general manager Holly Jarvis when the applause died down. She noted a grocery is essential to any neighborhood. “We will not, cannot sell out to another corporation,” she said, referring to the 2007 takeover of the Wild Oats chain by Whole Foods Markets who quickly closed the Hillsdale store. “A coop is literally owned by the people who shop in the store, by the community that it serves. We won’t be taken over by a national chain.” “Customers should expect more local items: produce, meat, and condiments like barbecue sauce and jam,” said Food Front community outreach and marketing director Tom Mattox. “It will look like a regular grocery but be organized as a coop. We’re responsive to what people in the neighborhood want.” Mattox encourages people to send email and let them know what they’d like (see for more information). He emphasized, “Everyone can shop here – not just coop members.” According to the Merriam–Web- ster dictionary, a cooperative is “an enterprise or organization owned by and operated for the benefit of those using its services.” At Food Front, people become member-owners by buying one $150 share ($5 per month for 30 months). Members can run for the board, vote in board elections, and receive dividends on profits based on what they spend at the store. Additional benefits include coupon books and discounts. “I’m a local food guy and I want a place that really supports local,” said Greg Higgins, who owns Higgins restaurant in downtown Portland. A Hillsdale resident, he belonged to Food Front while living in Northwest Portland. “I always liked their support of local farmers.” Mike Roach, Hillsdale business and professional association president and co-owner of Paloma Clothing, agreed. “In a small shopping center, the grocery store is usually the anchor,” he said. “It guarantees a certain number of visitors each week. It was a bitter experience seeing your grocery bought out by Whole Foods and then closed within days. We are so excited about having one of the best coops in Portland. We don’t have just a replacement – we have a major improvement.” After the announcements and toasts of sparkling apple juice, 28 people lined up to fill out the short applica- tion form and join. Lynn Rossing, of Hillsdale, was among those waiting. “I believe in shopping locally, and we’re diet-conscious -- gluten-free,” she said. “We want to cook all our own food and know what’s in it.” Among those celebrating were three generations of the family who has owned the shopping center property for 100 years. Gustav Ferdinand War- (Continued on Page 4) Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2. The Southwest Portland Post 7825 SW 36th Ave Suite #203 Portland, OR 97219 Eamon Molloy, Hillsdale Farmers’ Market manager, fills out an application to join the Food Front Cooperative Grocery. Mike Roach, president of the Hillsdale Business and Professional Association is behind the table. (Post photo by Polina Olsen)
