Cycling home from work yesterday afternoon, I thought I'd see what was going on with the Brooklyn St Skate spot project. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few friends with picks, shovels and a few tins of beer gearing up to get down. We spent the next few hours digging out the bowled corner in the coloured photo. It felt good to break a sweat, blister my hands and pitch in with something that is obviously going to become such a valuable asset to my neighborhood.
Every time I go down, a passer-by says 'Thanks so much for doing this. It is going to be way better than the junkie wasteland it used to be." Or something to that effect.
While this project was initially a guerilla effort it is now pretty close to being fully sanctioned by the City of Portland. Money is trickling in here and there but of course there's always a need. If you feel inclined to chip in for a bag of concrete, you can Pay Pal funds to: colinsharp@gmail.com and ear mark it "Brooklyn St"
In true Portland fashion, we've made efforts to save the trees that were there and there is talk of powering the concrete mixer by stationary bicycle...
Local kid, enjoying the improvements to his hood.
