Tuesday, June 13, 2006

EVENTS: Riverton Trolley Park

Portland Parks and Recreation and the Friends of the Riverton Trolley Park will be celebrating the 110th anniversary of the Grand Opening of the Park during the week of June 19.

Pre-registration is appreciated as some of the events have limited availability. Please leave a message for Denise at 766-2970.

Please join us for the following activities:

Monday, June 19
Slide Show: "Remembering Trolleys, Casinos, Bandstands and Rustic Theaters"
2:00-4:00pm Wilde Chapel, Evergreen Cemetery (FREE!)

Thursday, June 22
Memorabilia Sharing: Bring your family stories, post cards and other memorabilia from the Park. Keep the Park alive by sharing with others!
2:00-4:00pm Riverton Community Center, 1600 Forest Avenue (FREE!)

Thursday, June 22
Guided Historic Walk of Riverton Trolley Park, complete with enlarged images ($2 per person)
5:00-6:00pm or 5:30-6:30pm, meet at the ballfield on Riverside Street

1 comment:

mikejacques-1350@hotmail.com said...

I think it's a tragic waste to not try to recover the magnificence the Riverton Trolley Park once held. A handful of vollenteers could clean out the overgrown brush and re-set the stone work bridges and markers. The area is trashed and needs TLC.
Donations could be solicited for erecting buildings for various events. Surely this area can be better utilized for more than a dog park. Anybody who's walked through Riverton Park has seen it's a great place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon yet it all seems so sad when you think how beautiful it must have been once.
A jogging and bike path could be built, playgrounds for the kids, concerts could be held there in the summer,a pool could be dug, a great hall could be erected for weddings or family reunions, etc. Small fees could be asked to help cover any costs associated.
We've lost so much of our local history with the mindless destruction of so many beautiful victorian homes for Dunkin Donuts and other businesses. Progress isn't always a good thing.
Nobody cares anymore. People like to hold such places in reverence but not act to protect them and that too is sad.
This park was so important to life in the early 1900's, yet today it's just a footnote, almost forgotten and discarded.
I rather see the Park restored back to it's heyday if for no other reason except to protect that reverence for it.