As reported at the time in THE BEE, in January the nonprofit Oaks Park Association – operators of the historic Oaks Amusement Park, which opened in 1905 – applied for a zoning change permit from the City of Portland Permitting and Development office, in order to build a new “drop tower” ride. It is part of their two-decade plan for upgrading their attractions. But the few members of the recently revived Friends of Oaks Bottom vigorously objected to the permit.
In the hearings over the intervening months, the opposition to approving the zoning variance was joined by the Bird Alliance of Oregon (formerly “Portland Audubon Society”), and spearheaded by their employee, Mary Coolidge, their “BirdSafe & Lights Out Campaign Coordinator”.
The core of their argument seemed to be that although there are already lit structures taller than the proposed ride at Oaks Park, and despite the plan to place it closer to the river in the oak trees further from Oaks Bottom, area wildlife would be harmed by it – and that Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, part of which was formed by the dumping of excavation dirt from the construction of I-405 downtown, could be visually blemished…