2016
h lfìlA fO
face of
Ankeny
Square
Ja m a l Gardner hopes
to build com m unity with
good food an d m usic
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PHO TO S BY A M A N D A W ALDROUPE
Josn Kletzkin, with the band Irving, performs m Portland s Ankeny Square on Aug. 20. The park will become a performance space for musicians and other artists.
BY A M A N D A W ALDROUPE
S T A F F W R IT E R
he low, steady rumble of electric
guitar and the sharp thump of drums
could be heard down Burnside Street
and throughout the North Park Blocks on
Aug. 20.
On that exceptionally hot and arid
Saturday afternoon, the sounds
reverberating through this troubled area of
downtown Portland marked the first
performance in Ankeny Square since
revitalization efforts began.
Half a dozen people sat on picnic benches
in the park; another six stood nearby,
looking toward the pale, wooden,
rectangular stage that now lines the
southern end of the square. Some people
stopped to order food at one of the three
food carts located within the park.
Jamal Gardner stood next to one of
Ankeny Square’s distinctive, derelict public
restrooms. He is tall and slim and wore a
sleaveless t-shirt and baggy shorts. He is of
Jamaican and Cuban descent, and his face is
framed by pen-width dreadlocks that fall
past his shoulders. His beard and hair are
beginning to gray. He often smiles as he
talks to friends or passersby, a wide, toothy
expression that is infectious.
Gardner, 38, has been smiling a lot lately.
He is now in charge of Ankeny Square - the
small park between Burnside Street and
Southwest Ankeny Street that, for decades,
has had a seedy reputation and attracted
drug use, loitering and vandalism, as it fell
into neglect and disrepair. In an effort to
revitalize the space, Portland’s Parks and
Recreation bureau announced this past
spring that people interested in creating
E
community projects at the park could
submit proposals to the bureau.
Gardner’s proposal was selected from a
pool of 15 in May. Ankeny Square will
become host to five multicultural food carts
and a small stage that will be a performance
space for any artist - writers, musicians,
jugglers or others - to perform and share
their art and talent with the public.
“Anybody with any weird talent - that is
family friendly, of course,” Gardner said.
He calls his vision for Ankeny Square, and
the name of his business, Grubbin’.
Grubbin’s slogan is “artistically
celebrating diversity.”
It’s also Gardner’s mission in life. After
years spent on the street and in prison, he
now hopes to build and foster community
through food, music and interconnection.
he performance that afternoon was part
of the Oregon Walkways event, hosted
by Better Block PDX, an advocacy group for
public spaces.
Josh Kletzkin, a guitarist who kicked off
the afternoon’s music session, and drummer
Kris Sarles, form the band Irving. They call
their music “paz” - a combination of pop
and jazz.
“It’s an honor to play outside in a space
that (Gardner) restored and made so much
more accessible to people,” Kletzkin said.
“It’s so Portland,” Sarles added. “There’s
always been this culture that anyone can go
outside and play music. That’s been
dwindling because a lot of money is coming
in. Everything is more competitive.” He said
Ankeny Square is “not about making a lot of
money. It’s open to the city, open to the
community.”
Ankeny Square has undergone a facelift in
Jam al Gardner,
right, checks on
a community
member at
Ankeny Square.
Gardner is the
owner of
Grubbin’, which
is bringing
performance
artists and
multicultural
food carts to the
park.
T
the three months since Gardner gained
control of it. The short, emerald green grass
is gone, replaced with gravel. Several picnic
benches sit throughout the park. At the
southern end, between the two brick public
restrooms that became notorious for drug
activity, there is a rectangular, wooden stage
large enough for a four-person band. Four
strings of lights hang overhead.
Gardner expects to add two more food
carts, which he’ll position on the park’s
northeastern corner, by Sept. 15, when
Ankeny Square will have a grand re-opening.
Gardner leases Ankeny Square from the
city for $1 a year, and he is responsible for
paying utilities. The contract with the parks
bureau will be renegotiated after two years.
He charges the food carts rent for the
See ANKENY, page 12