Day 8: Providence Park, Rose Garden, and Metro
October 3rd started with some students of the class departing from the Eastside Lodge in pursuit of breakfast in the wonderful city of Portland, Oregon. The students strolled the neighborhood a bit and eventually found themselves at “My Father’s Place” a small diner just off of Burnside Street. When they returned the rest of the class had awoken and was ready to depart for their first day of Adventure in the city of Roses.
The first stop in the city was an in depth tour of Providence Park, Portland’s largest sports stadium. The park had previously been used to host the baseball team, the Portland Beavers, but its ownership had now shifted to Portland’s Major League Soccer team, the Portland Timbers, and the Women’s Major League Soccer team, the Portland Thorns. The tour guides, Steve and Tim, were very knowledgeable and excited to share with the class. We learned that the stadium holds a maximum of 23,000, and since its opening the Timbers have sold out every single match. Providence Park received a silver medal in the LEED program which is a green sustainability program; the only think keeping the stadium from a gold medal was the lack of solar panels on the roof.
After the tour the class split up to explore the city and gather research for their individual research projects. A collection of students visited the International Rose Test Gardenlocated in Washington Park. In the garden there are more than 7,000 rose plants of an estimated 550 varieties. After looking through the garden one group of students returned to the heart of the city in search of Portland’s food cart scene.
Not all of the students visited the garden. Ali, Alyssa, Hannah, and Nathan decided to stay close to the city and conduct research downtown. Ali and Alyssa headed down to Third Street and visited a local landmark and well known business, Voodoo Doughnuts. The students were lucky enough to be able to speak with the founder of Voodoo and local celebrity, Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson. Hannah and Nathan explored around the train tracks and bridges searching for graffiti and street art, eventually finding themselves on Vancouver in a gentrifying area. After a little adventure of getting lost they made their way back to the rest of the group
After some time to explore the class reconvened at the entrance of Portland’s METRO building. METRO is an organization that serves as a regional government to the city of Portland and its surrounding areas. The idea of METRO is to act as a governing level that is above the county and below the state in its jurisdiction. Here the class met with Matthew Hampton, METRO’s chief cartographer, and learned the significance of having a Metropolitan Planning Organization. Matthew Hampton also gave the class a small demonstration of some of the projects he has been preparing for NACIS, which involved bringing historical maps to life with animation using Adobe to make them more accessible and interesting to the general public.
After a great presentation and some questions the class scattered around the city to spend a small amount of free time. A group of three students decided to visit the world famous Burnside Skate Park before returning to the Eastside Lodge to prepare for a dinner outing. For dinner the class ventured out and met up with UWEC Alumnus Kelli Schlegelmilch to talk about her experience of living in Portland.
Special Thanks to Steve and Tim from Providence Park, Matthew Hampton from METRO, and Kelli Schlegelmilch!
October 3rd started with some students of the class departing from the Eastside Lodge in pursuit of breakfast in the wonderful city of Portland, Oregon. The students strolled the neighborhood a bit and eventually found themselves at “My Father’s Place” a small diner just off of Burnside Street. When they returned the rest of the class had awoken and was ready to depart for their first day of Adventure in the city of Roses.
The first stop in the city was an in depth tour of Providence Park, Portland’s largest sports stadium. The park had previously been used to host the baseball team, the Portland Beavers, but its ownership had now shifted to Portland’s Major League Soccer team, the Portland Timbers, and the Women’s Major League Soccer team, the Portland Thorns. The tour guides, Steve and Tim, were very knowledgeable and excited to share with the class. We learned that the stadium holds a maximum of 23,000, and since its opening the Timbers have sold out every single match. Providence Park received a silver medal in the LEED program which is a green sustainability program; the only think keeping the stadium from a gold medal was the lack of solar panels on the roof.
After the tour the class split up to explore the city and gather research for their individual research projects. A collection of students visited the International Rose Test Gardenlocated in Washington Park. In the garden there are more than 7,000 rose plants of an estimated 550 varieties. After looking through the garden one group of students returned to the heart of the city in search of Portland’s food cart scene.
Not all of the students visited the garden. Ali, Alyssa, Hannah, and Nathan decided to stay close to the city and conduct research downtown. Ali and Alyssa headed down to Third Street and visited a local landmark and well known business, Voodoo Doughnuts. The students were lucky enough to be able to speak with the founder of Voodoo and local celebrity, Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson. Hannah and Nathan explored around the train tracks and bridges searching for graffiti and street art, eventually finding themselves on Vancouver in a gentrifying area. After a little adventure of getting lost they made their way back to the rest of the group
After some time to explore the class reconvened at the entrance of Portland’s METRO building. METRO is an organization that serves as a regional government to the city of Portland and its surrounding areas. The idea of METRO is to act as a governing level that is above the county and below the state in its jurisdiction. Here the class met with Matthew Hampton, METRO’s chief cartographer, and learned the significance of having a Metropolitan Planning Organization. Matthew Hampton also gave the class a small demonstration of some of the projects he has been preparing for NACIS, which involved bringing historical maps to life with animation using Adobe to make them more accessible and interesting to the general public.
After a great presentation and some questions the class scattered around the city to spend a small amount of free time. A group of three students decided to visit the world famous Burnside Skate Park before returning to the Eastside Lodge to prepare for a dinner outing. For dinner the class ventured out and met up with UWEC Alumnus Kelli Schlegelmilch to talk about her experience of living in Portland.
Special Thanks to Steve and Tim from Providence Park, Matthew Hampton from METRO, and Kelli Schlegelmilch!