Ross Island Sand and… Park!
After several years of negotiations, the City of Portland and Robert Pamplin (owner of Ross Island Sand and Gravel) have reached an agreement for 60 acres of the island to be turned over to the city. Although the city hopes to eventually gain control of the entire island, this sounds like a good start. This Portland Tribune article (the Trib is also owned by Pamplin) includes a photo of the area to be handed over. This area is across the river from the area current being developed in the South Waterfront and I’m sure the folks moving in there would love to have a nice area preserved for their viewing pleasure.
The city is talking about developing the area as a park, although from the photo it appears the only access would be via boat. I used to work in the area and I’ll be the first to admit that a gravel mining operation certainly didn’t add to the beauty or scenery of the area, so the cleanup and beautification of the area will be a welcome sight from an aesthetic standpoint. What does everyone else think about this? Good idea? Good use for an old industrial site? Waste of city resources?
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the value of that land has to be pretty astronomical. which makes me skeptical of the whole deal.
on face value, the addition of an island park to the city’s system is huge. but the devil is in the details.
for a very different article on the same thing:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/116001690368800.xml&coll=7
this one not written by a paper owned by one of the parties in the transaction.