Knobs Off: Coming Full Circle on Half Circle
Photo by William Takahashi
If you're a Portland street skater, or a street skater who has visited Portland, you've probably skated “Half Circle” AKA "Untitled," AKA “6th Avenue Fountain Plaza”, AKA "Anchor," AKA "Kelly Fountain." Why so many names? Referring to his inability to find anything online linking this well-known skatespot with skateboarding, Portland blogger Cyclotram said in 2008, "they must call it something else." And he’s right about that, but 17 years later, you’re still not going to find anything about Half Circle and skating online. Trust me, I’ve looked.
If you want to see it in its heyday, check out the best Portland skate video of all time, Cinegraph by Tucker Glasow, (@filmingonhardwheels). Disagree? As Clyde Singleton would say, “Go argue with ya mama.”
Donated to the City of Portland in 1977 by sculptor Lee Kelly after winning an international design competition, Danny Sargent told me over DM this past April that he and his friends were skating it in the mid-80s, boardsliding and doing front threes off the ledge, but “never nose wheelie or manual.” That’s 40 years of skateboarding at Half Circle. It’s to take the knobs off for good.
If you’ve never had the chance to skate Half Circle, it’s a small pedestrian plaza right in the heart of Downtown Portland. There’s a fountain, well, there used to be a fountain. The water’s been shut off since last year. I was told by a member of the Regional Arts and Culture Council that the fountain was filled in because the pump is broken. The fountain was donated to TriMet, is owned by the city, the sculpture’s in the care of RACC, and the Portland Water Bureau maintains it (no wonder people are confused what to call it). I wasn’t given an exact cost on repairs, but it was ballparked in the tens of thousands. I was told they don’t expect the money any time soon, although the long term goal is to get the fountain flowing again.
Some skaters might prefer the filled in fountain. It’s not really anymore skateable than it was before, but you don’t have to worry about your board falling in the water now. I fuck with the fountain though. It looks better on film, and risking a soggy deck is worth it for a better clip. Plus, the vibes man, the best spots are the ones that are just as good for skating as they are for chilling, because as skateboarder and landscape architect Taj Hanson says, "Sometimes skateboarding is not skating."
Photo by William Takahashi
No disrespect to Kelly, but without the water feature the sculpture is not that interesting to look at, at least not for long. Kelly’s fountain’s location on a transit mall is not by chance, the plaza was intended as a refuge right in the middle of the concrete jungle. The sound of running water competes with the ever present cacophony of car traffic blended with other sounds of the city. The ledge offers a chance to take a break from the rat race and commune with an artist's ode to the nature that surrounds us in the city in the forest on the water.
The sculpture is basically a stack of huge steel blocks. When the water's on, there’s some solid waterfall action. It’s surrounded by a small bank, which every skater wishes was just a little steeper, and, most importantly, is surrounded on one side by a “low seating wall” made of granite. It starts at about 14" at the low end and rises by about 4" at the other. This is where the magic happens. And of course, the sidewalks are brick, 'cause this is downtown Portland. It doesn’t get much better than that. Until it does…
Removing the skate stoppers is the first step to revitalizing this space.
Photos by William Takahashi
I’m a grown-ass man, and I’m trying something new, seeing if I can do this the "right" way. Fuck it, if that fails, there’s always the other way, but for once, I’m asking for permission instead of forgiveness.
I’ve put together a technical memo proposing a phased redevelopment of this space and sent it off to District 4 council members and affiliated agencies. Phase one is simple: the city grants permission to local skaters to remove the skate stoppers, at zero cost to the city. Phase two? Let’s get our hands on some of those hard-to-get parks fund dollars and turn this space into something that works better for everyone. That means getting rid of the skate stoppers, getting rid of those anti-homeless boulders that take up space where there used to be a lawn, adding a couple of small skateable obstacles that tie into the landscape, and making this a place that people actually want to hang out again.
If you’ve ever skated Half Circle, want to skate it in the future, or just want to support this new approach to revitalizing public spaces through skateboarding in Portland, take a minute to fill out the Google survey I created: HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/MR9YFDAR
Let’s prove there’s real support for this campaign and get it poppin' at Half Circle!
