 We care about this because it's the oldest park in Portland, 1866. Just imagine, 1866, July 4th, when a fire right here blazed from the ocean right up onto where Franklin Street is now. So the park afterwards was built as a firebreak. It was named Phoenix Square, rising from the ashes. A year later, 1967, 1867, it was renamed Lincoln Park in honor of President Abraham Lincoln. I'm Frank Riley. They called me the Chief Spear Carrier for Friends of Lincoln Park. It is Friday, October the 2nd, First Friday, Art Walk. And tonight represents the third year to the night that we began the Friends of Lincoln Park. And Allison Hildreth was here at that time, talking, giving everyone a little understanding of Lincoln Park. And that started the whole process of why we're here tonight. Allison? Well, Frank is our hero, really. He came that night. I was here because I'm a member of the Portland Public Art Committee, and the founder is part of our collection. And Frank took a look at the park and thought the park needs some help. And he has been valiant in getting people from the city together and citizens together. And this is the way things happen, really, isn't it? You care about something, and you try and make something happen. And so with the help of the Portland Public Art Committee and Friends of Lincoln Park, I hope we can complete, restore the fountain to its former beautiful self. So we can call it Hello Beautiful again, right? Exactly. Because the photographs are so dramatic of the way the park used to be and the people that used to come to the park. And it's just sadly neglected, and we need to do something. Sharon, my wife and partner in crime, and I actually went into the fountain. There was no water in it, and found the insignia on the fountain of the foundry in France. Val du Seau, Sharon? Val d'Ausone. And I emailed the gallery, and it's now a gallery, it's no longer a foundry. But the building was still there, they understood what it used to be and how they would cast these beautiful fountains in the 1800s and then ship them all over. I'd like to introduce my wife and partner in crime, especially with Friends of Lincoln Park, Sharon Riley. And we worked together, and did you ever imagine when we walked into that pond three years ago and found the insignia that we'd be here tonight, and it would be so much to do? I know, I thought we'd have it all done by now, actually. Yes, I know. It's a slow process. We were very naive, weren't we, but what a pleasure it's been to work on this for three years, and excuse me, the starting of the third year. So many people who really love the park, there's a dedicated group of people who really want to see the park and the fountain be restored. Yeah, and that's a good point. That kind of enthusiasm excites us and motivates us to carry on and to press forward. Well, it's a task that's very large and it involves the city and various different departments and various groups, and so it's not something that we can do solely the way we're used to doing things. No, you need cooperation from everyone, especially the city people. And they have been wonderful, like Jeff and Troy and Deb Andrews and the new city manager now, John Jennings. And Mayor Brennan. And Mayor Brennan's been wonderful. In fact, he's invited to join us today. We have 13 new benches all around the park, thanks to the Goron Bank. That was their donation. And then there were three others somewhere that the Keep America Beautiful donated, and what Jeff, three trees, right, from Keep America Beautiful. So there's some progress. I'd like to introduce Jeff Tarling, City Arborist for Portland, and a true friend of the Friends of Lincoln Park. Thanks Frank. We've had a long collaboration here in Lincoln Park, working with the Friends. It started three years ago in the park tonight. And we made some great progress with the Portland Arts Committee and also the Portland Historic Preservation, trying to get some momentum to restore their park. It was formerly Phoenix Square and it's Portland's oldest park. So, you know, we made good progress and it's great having friends and people from Portland that have the same vision. I'd like to introduce Sally Oldman. She's with the Greater Portland Landmarks and a friend of Lincoln Park. Would you like to say anything about Lincoln Park? Well, I would just say I'm very excited that there is a group of citizens who are really working to revitalize this park and make it much more vital part of our city because it should be. Well, your enthusiasm, your enthusiasm, Sally, and your support helps tremendously. I'd like to introduce you to two very special friends of Lincoln Park. Tim Honquest, to my right, and to his right, Marvin Olson. Do you want to say anything, gentlemen? We're happy to be here. We hope to see as much done in Lincoln Park as possible because it's a viable location in the city. Thank you. We agree. We're in total agreement. It's a very special pleasure and honor for me to present someone who's not only a friend to Lincoln Park, but a friend to all of Portland. Hillary Bassett, the director of Greater Portland Landmarks. Hillary, would you want to say something? Wonderful to be here in Lincoln Park, which is a true hidden gem of Portland. I think people don't realize once you get into the park how it's a large space and it's really getting there. Thanks to Frank and Sharon Riley and the friends of Lincoln Park, the park is starting to get revived, getting the fountain going again, the benches, having activities here. It's just a great, great turn of events here. There's also some great potential with Franklin Arterial, the plans of Franklin Arterial to narrow down the road corridor and to have Lincoln Park come back to its former size. So I think this will be, I think Portlanders are in for a great streak in coming to Lincoln Park and the new developments that are happening. The Franklin Street plan goes through. It will enhance the park again, as Hillary said, because we'll reclaim the land that belongs to Lincoln Park and it will jut out and traffic will just meander around it. So it will really get the park to its former, almost its former extent. Yeah, and once again it will be considered the top of the city. That's what it was called when it first was built. It's a wonderful amenity for the city. I think all the projects with the art and the benches and getting the fountain going, repaving the pathways. All of that. It's just fabulous. Yeah, and Hillary and Greater Portland Landmarks also proclaimed Lincoln Park and in peril location, which helps us because it gives, I think, a little more urgency to our needs. I think it really is. It's one of those. It is a place in peril in the sense that it had been neglected for so long and having a friends group now that is so active and making sure that there's an advocate for the park. And Landmarks is very strongly behind the project and behind the friends and all the fundraising and all the good event planning that they're doing. Master planning. It's just a great, great. Well, thank you, Hillary, for your help and your enthusiasm and support. It's my honor to introduce his honor, Mayor Michael Brennan, Mayor of Portland, Mayor. Well, I'm happy to be here on this first Friday in October at the event. It's always a great day in the city of Portland when we have first Friday because so many people turn out to enjoy Congress Street. And one little tidbit fact about where Lincoln Park looks right over Congress Street. Yeah. And a year ago, Congress Street was designated as one of the 10 best streets in the United States. Nice. And we're on the same list with Broadway and. I love Broadway and King Street and Charleston, South Carolina. We're a good company. So Lincoln Park plays an important role within the city. I like making Congress Street one of the 10 best streets in the United States. Hey, that's a sale. And I want to thank you and the friends of Lincoln Park for focusing attention on this because because of your work and because of your effort, we're going to figure out some ways to get some resources here to continue to upgrade Lincoln Park and to make sure that it realizes its full potential. But this plays an important part in kind of the complex of City Hall, the courthouse and the exchange street area of Portland. I have music to my ears. So it's a great park and we're just really excited for you to be here and to do this and keep bringing to our attention how important it is for us to keep investing in the park here. Thank you, Mayor. When I first got elected mayor, Lincoln Park was occupied. Yeah. I'm Severin Beliveau, a recent arrival to Mungo Hill. So I travel across this park almost every day. Notice the improvements that have occurred in the last few months or so and the opportunity that you have here to restore it, I think, which I think is really impressive. But I also note that the font was cast in France in 1870. And ironically, I have to be the French consul in Maine. So there is a connection there. Maybe we get the French government involved in this too. Maybe we could. That's a wonderful idea. I'll pursue this with them. I'll talk to the French consul and the ambassador and tell them what's happening here. Would you please? And you can find me right here. What are the sources of the funding for this? We're trying to get city funding and we're also trying to get private funding. What's the budget? Well, we don't know. We think this is to do everything. All the fencing has to be scraped and repainted. The fountain has to be done. The plumbing, the facade of it, we need a new spire. I think this is my own guess. About a million dollars to do the whole thing. Jonathan Taggart, who's a very well-known sculptor-conservator, is right now making an estimate for us in detail for the fountain to be repaired. And Moore and Saradan, the architectural firm, they're doing the plumbing. They're estimating what it would take to do reconfigure the plumbing. It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you. I'm glad you stopped by. I've been asked how do we, the friends of Linkin Park, go about making our needs known? And our need is to totally restore Linkin Park to the way it was originally. We want this fountain to once again be referred to as beautiful. A lot of it is with personal letters to people who might want to contribute, maybe even contribute to the complete reconstruction of the fountain, or the fencing. All the fencing around here is iron, and it was done by the Portland Company, who's become very popular again today. And so, but it needs to be scraped and repainted. So that's a major job. But all these things are possible. The pavement needs to be redone. And we need more trees, and we need more benches. We have 13 new benches already. For $1,500, you could donate a bench and memorialize it. Have your own personal message. If you'd like more information about Linkin Park, and we hope you do, go to our website, which is lovelinkinpark.org. It's easy, lovelinkinpark.org.