[BWNA] City Repair

[Rob Vaughn]

Chess tables like in Washington Square in NYC would be great - the giant
pieces, while of course sound like fun, would just not be used.  I know it
probably wasn't serious, but having 4-5 cement tables with benches where
people can play games would be great.

These are readily available and not too expensive, tables are formed cement,
with marble for the chess board, which is made from scrap and not expensive.
I could even donate a marble board to be used for one.

A cool idea would be to commission a Beaumont-Wilshire artist to make "art
chess boards" out of tile or such.  Just the boards themselves.  Use the money
to support a local artist and make something a little more "Portland"?
Something nice to look at since I do think people would use them more for
sitting around and such than playing chess, since I doubt it'd be like
Wash. Sq. where there's always a waiting line to play chess.

Having one or two as a backgammon board would be a nice twist as well, and it
would be nice to be under something to keep the rain off?

Another suggestion: horseshoe pits like they have in Laurelhurst Park.  I used
to play there ocassionally when I lived in the Sunnyside neighborhood.  Or
are there some already?  I don't think there are.

Thanks much to Ankist for all his hard work and unrelenting enthusiasm for
these projects!

Cheers, Rob

>I was thinking about the picnic shelter at Wilshire Park and one idea that came 
>to mind was some kind of community chess and/or checkers game area.  I envision 
>a large chess board painted on the pavement under the covered section of the 
>shelter with people playing chess with large, statuesque chess pieces.  The one 
>obvious problem with this is how to store and secure the chess pieces when 
>they're not in use.  Alternately, instead of a large chess board, there could 
>be several tables with chess boards imprinted on to the top surface of the 
>tables.  People could then bring their own chess pieces to play with.  It would 
>be great if the tables were constructed of stone or some other very sturdy, 
>permanent material.