XPost: alt.fan.tonya-harding

TTTTT H H EEEEE
T H H E
T HHHHH EEEEE
T H H E
T H H EEEEE

PPPP OOOO RRRR TTTTT L A N N DDDD I A N N TM
P P O O R R T L A A NN N D D I A A NN N
PPPP O O RRRR T L AAAAA N N N D D I AAAAA N N N
P O O R R T L A A N NN D D I A A N NN
P OOOO R R T LLLLL A A N N DDDD I A A N N

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The Portlandian, the Internet's premier source of Tonya News

November 12, 2021 Edition - SPECIAL 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION
(C) 2021 Portland Ice Skating Society
http://www.pdxiss.org *****************************************************************

Welcome to the annual birthday issue of The Portlandian for 2021.
Tonya turns 51 on this day, which alone is a good reason to
celebrate. But this year, there's a second reason, and that's
because it's a double birthday as it's also the 25th birthday of
"The Portlandian" itself! And in traditional Portlandian style,
we've marked the occasion with a cake:

http://pdxiss.org/images/2021-11-12_TonyaBirthdayCake.jpg

The doll is an Ice Skater Barbie. The turquoise lettering
symbolizes the dress that Tonya wore when she landed the Triple
Axel at the 1991 Nationals.

We also found some old photos of a couple of previous cakes,
including the first one from 1995:

http://pdxiss.org/images/cake.jpg

These photos from 2018 show a better view of the original doll.
The skate blades on the original one were made out of parts from
an old electric razor:

http://pdxiss.org/images/2018-11-12_TonyaBirthdayCake.jpg

http://pdxiss.org/images/2018-11-13_TonyaBirthdayCakeSkate.jpg


We've also got a previously unpublished photo of Tonya, a few
articles that we've added to our Joe Haran tribute annex that he
sent us, plus the usual roundup of Tonya fan art and cosplay.
Then we'll finish with a tribute to a Portland institution with a
strong Tonya connection.


25 YEARS OF AGGRESSIVE PRACTICE

Rather than bore you with a rehash of our first 20 years, we'll
refer you to our 20th anniversary issue in 2016 for that part:

http://pdxiss.org/port95.htm

Since then, there's been lots more going on, most notably the
release of "I, Tonya". Here's some of the highlights:

- our report of the casting list for the main parts, and of the
filming in Georgia:

http://pdxiss.org/port96.htm

- we also had full coverage of the premiere at the Toronto Film
Festival and its screening in various film festivals:

http://pdxiss.org/port98.htm

- our review of the movie:

http://pdxiss.org/port100.htm

- 2018 also saw Tonya appear on "Dancing With The Stars",
reaching the final with her dance partner, Sasha Farber:

http://pdxiss.org/port99.htm

- we celebrated the end of 2018, one of Tonya's best years ever,
with a rundown of the "I, Tonya" soundtrack:

http://pdxiss.org/port104.htm

- 2019 saw the Great Tonya Comeback continue. In March of that
year, she was invited to speak at a fundraiser for domestic abuse
victims at the University of Oregon in Eugene:

http://pdxiss.org/port106.htm

http://pdxiss.org/port108.htm

http://pdxiss.org/port113.htm

- and also appear on "Worst Cooks In America", ultimately winning
the prize for most improved cooking:

http://pdxiss.org/port107.htm

- Tonya also featured in an advertising campaign for Direct Auto
Insurance, based on the idea that everybody deserves a second
chance:

http://pdxiss.org/port109.htm

- the Covid pandemic has heavily restricted Tonya's activities
over the past two years, however she has recently set up an
online shop on Fan Arch where you can order merchandise, and also
joined Cameo, where you can order a personalized greeting:

http://pdxiss.org/port119.htm

http://pdxiss.org/port120.htm

Here's an example of what you'll get with the latter - Tonya,
with her cat Rocket (now all grown up), and a bunch of pumpkins:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVRcS2mlEZH/

ladymiss.christy - writes "I'm in Heaven! It really doesn't
get better than this! Tonya Harding and Rocket Rule"


AN UNSEEN TONYA PHOTO

One of our favorite Tonyaphile activities is trying to find
photos of her that haven't been widely seen before. Well, we're
pleased to announce we've got one that as far as we can tell, has
never seen the light of day until now, and appears to contain the
only picture on the Internet of Tonya's choreographer, Barbara
Flowers. Although other photos from the same shoot are on line,
this one hasn't surfaced so far to our knowledge:

http://pdxiss.org/images/1991-03_Worlds_Flag-BarbaraFlowers-Tonya-DodyTeachman.jpg

Taken at the 1991 Worlds in Munich that March, it was sent to us
some years ago by a fan in Chauvin, Louisiana. She tells us that:

You may also be interested to know that the pic
accompanied an article that ran just prior to the 1992
Olympics in the Lafayette, La. newspaper. (I was a
reporter there at the time, but no, I didn't do that
particular interview.) The choreographer's family was
from Lafayette and so we ran an interview with her
about Tonya. This was, of course, a good two years
before any hint of scandal and Harding's story was at
that time the stereotypical Cinderella one. The
choreographer mailed the pic to the paper; one of the
paper's photographers gave it to me shortly afterward
because he knew I was a skating fan. (Those are crop
marks on the back.)

The marks on the back she mentions make reference to "Sun", so
this was most likely the LaFayette Sun newspaper.


THE CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS TONYA PHOTOS

These are not the only new Tonya photos to surface recently.

Recently this photo was posted to the Reinstate Tonya Harding
group that we haven't seen before. We were guessing it was from
one of the tours she was on in the early 90s. Only clue is that
the now-defunct bank mentioned on the signage was based in
Buffalo, NY. and an article that mentions the 1992 Tom Collins
tour (which featured Tonya) stopped in that city and performed at
the Memorial Auditorium (a venue known locally as The Aud) on
April 26:

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10221693714586952&set=gm.899297657354555


https://buffalonews.com/news/worlds-top-figure-skaters-to-have-a-picnic-in-aud/article_f196ff05-2375-5d80-b000-1a0b107b118d.html

But the case gets more interesting. This photo shows that the
bank logo was in use at The Aud in Buffalo in Nov 1991. But the
wording is on the other side, and there's a yellow skirting board
around the bottom that's not present in the Tonya photo. Plus,
it's obviously had a bruising from the hockey - the Tonya one
looks in much better shape:


https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/defenseman-ken-sutton-of-the-buffalo-sabres-moves-down-the-news-photo/72445032

Some suggest it may date from circa 1990 because of her dress.
Skate America was held in that arena in the fall of that year,
but Tonya wasn't there that year. And the different signage
suggests it may be another location anyway. One other possibility
could be the Tom Collins tour from early 1991 - Tonya joined in
the latter part of the tour. Unfortunately, we've yet to find an
itinerary that says what locations the tour visited.

So this leaves a third possibility: maybe some kind of one-off
event she was invited to in that general area, perhaps around
1990 or so because of the outfit. We'd be happy to hear from
anybody who may be able to shed light on this.


Alison Davies has also come across this picture of Tonya that
featured in NBC's "Nancy & Tonya" special back in 2014. As far as
we can tell, Tonya only wore this dress once, in her 1990
Nationals Short Program:

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10221969318276872

Is this the dress that the judge told her not to wear again or
she'd get low marks? The one that inspired I, Tonya's most famous
scene?

If we look at the scene in the film where she confronts the
judge, you can see it's something of a similar style, but not
identical. Generally the costumes in "I, Tonya" were dead
accurate, but this seems to be one where they took some artistic
license, probably because the scene itself is largely made up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l6spk1BL0k


JOE HARAN ARTIFACTS

As we promised last time, we have begun uploading some items that
Joe Haran sent to us several years ago. The first batch covers
material from before "The Incident":

Joe says "A 'Tonya!' bumper sticker, one of the one-hundred I
had made in 1992. YOU CAN KEEP THIS. IT'S YOURS. IT LOOKS
BEST ON A MOTOR-VEHICLE BUMPER."

http://pdxiss.org/haran_artifacts/TonyaBumperSticker.png

(We'd suggest best of all on a big, grunty pickup truck)


An article about Tonya in the February 1992 edition of
"Guideposts" (a religious magazine):

http://pdxiss.org/haran_artifacts/1992-02_Guideposts-PrideOfPortland.pdf


An article about Tonya in the April 3, 1993 edition of "The
Outlook" (the daily newspaper in Gresham) about Tonya acting
as Grand Marshall for a local parade:


http://pdxiss.org/haran_artifacts/1993-04-03_TheOutlook-TroutdaleParade.pdf


Another write-up about Tonya in the May 29, 1993 edition of
"The Outlook", about Tonya raising money for a school. Tonya's
charity work is often "overlooked" by the media:


http://pdxiss.org/haran_artifacts/1993-05-29_TheOutlook-SkatersGoodDeed.pdf


THE TONYAPHILE WINTER COLLECTION

With winter fast approaching, you'll be needing a way to keep
warm on the skating rink - or off it. Or perhaps you're just
looking for Christmas gift ideas. Obviously the first thing on
your list is going to be one of Tonya's excellent sweatshirts on
Fan Arch, but if you've already got one, here's another one that
you can add to your wardrobe - this store is making "No Comment"
sweatshirts just like Tonya's from back in '94!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKzLQMmDLTk/

https://www.threadriot.com/store/p146/NO_COMMENT_SWEATSHIRT.html

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUSwr0LJ0rC/

"Been making these throwback Tonya Harding sweatshirts for a
few years now. The message is from the 90s but really it's
timeless. Since winter is gonna be another 6 weeks may as
well invest in a cozy sweatshirt."

This is not the first time someone has made these shirts
available. Back in 2014, we ran an article about another
Tonyaphile by the name of Dayna Tortorici who made a limited run
of these things:

http://pdxiss.org/port90.htm

At the time she said:

"I am totally a Tonya apologist," says Tortorici. "The scandal
was informed by all kinds of prejudice... It's clear Tonya was
guilty of knowing who was behind the attack and not telling the
police right away - but it was a different time, and nobody
seemed to stick up and say, Well, of course she didn't, she was
married to an abusive man who threatened her."

If you want to see how accurate they are, here's the original:

https://www.instagram.com/p/kGglVvgjxZ/

And when summer comes around, there's always one of Tonya's t-
shirts, as modeled here by Gisa:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTpfjWIsQMj/


BOTTOMS UP!

And if you want to make a toast to Tonya on her birthday, here's
a way to do it. Two purveyors of alcoholic beverages have been
motivated to create something in her honor. First up, Mountain
Culture Beer Co. of Katoomba, NSW, Australia, have come up with a
couple of limited edition craft beers dedicated to Tonya and her
skating rival. The can designs are inspired by their 1994
Olympics practice outfits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zo2seIbrHo

Unfortunately their online store seems to be sold out, but we
believe they are still in stock elsewhere.

Meanwhile, the Wine & Spirit Co of Greenville, Delaware, have
created "Rye, Tonya", a 115 proof, 5 and a half year, single-
barrel rye whiskey from Knob Creek. Price is $54.99 a bottle. No
word on the origin of the name:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CO50JUxgGDm/
https://wineandspiritco.com/


TONYAWEEN & LOOKALIKES 2021

Generally Tonyaween this year has been something of a letdown, in
both the quality and quantity of the crop of Tonya impersonators,
the latter perhaps being impacted by the pandemic. In terms of
the former, we seem to be back to people wielding clubs and iron
bars again in many cases. But there are a few that do stand out:

Stacey Gokool (missusgroover) - another early example from the
1990s.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKO_Yz5DcV9/
I've always been a little warped. My Tonya to my friend
Melissa's Nancy for Halloween circa 1994.

V-Ronika St. James (vronstjames) Washington, DC. does a good
LaVona:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLJ_r7UrPGZ/

Jennifer Dodds Fox (navigatewstyle) does a good LaVona too:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVoTqkeLeQs/

Khaled (filmingkh) Portland OR.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIVwdhwjWns/

Fee Basanavicius (fbasanavicius) Chicago, IL. - Tonya & LaVona
lookalikes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMIASVKJiTm/

electricpalacehastings UK - staff member Judith giving you her
best Tonya Harding in a "Mimic a film scene" contest.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CN1s1nCM93S/

tina.turnon Taylor Square, Sydney, Australia
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVj24rcFHgH/

Izabella Miko (izabellamiko) - Tonya meets Michael Myers
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVs6nsxPjtU/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVvjw8MvHO8/

I dressed up as #tonyaharding this year and it made me
think, it's so crazy that someone who was so talented, who
such an amazing athlete won't be remembered for that, but for
one awful thing. It's such a fine line but more so in today's
#cancelculture where everything you've ever worked for can be
gone in one moment just because the media decided to steer it
that way. You used to have to actually DO something bad for
you to be canceled, now it's enough for you to just support
or not support a movement that the media deems right or
wrong. #walkingoneggshells class should be in order for all
public peeps!

Sarah (ladyjadda) - see her lip-synching to "Barracuda" in the
final video:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVtCkN1PW8r/

Joseph Emde (jwpants) Los Angeles - Tonya & LaVona
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVtINL3hW2v/

Samantha Browning (stbrowning) - not the boxer who fought against
Tonya in the early 2000s:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVtqomSrkqC/

lea_v.d - Quebec, Canada
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVt2yZNLocA/
Ben contente que ma robe me fasse encore (Been glad that
my dress still fits me)

(meghanjohns) Atlanta GA.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVvdHmKgj0E/

Miranda Kildee (mirandakildee)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVv7Jhuhm-K/

And finally, a couple of Nancy's - very rare to find these on
their own, unaccompanied by Tonya's:

Alexia Antonella Binanti (alexia_antonella) San Diego CA.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVt2cIaFk4w/

Stephen Lugowe (lugoeslow)
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMPw6dCBqeW/


FAN ART ROUNDUP

And now it's time for a special birthday fan art roundup:

Simon Birch (delargebc) London Borough of Hackney - a special
triple axel tribute:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWLfu5OocBl/
"I specifically made this music with this video in mind type
beat"

Amaya | after effects (lclasv) has made a number of Tonya video
montages:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVzptBRLbDF/ - deserved better
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVyNyXMvl4o/ - triple axel
https://www.instagram.com/p/CV7rlxwBpA9/ - our little redneck
princess
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWKc4m4t6oG/ - birthday tribute

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONYA!!

Thank you for being you. You're truly an inspiration to many.
Myself included. You're so strong and sadly, a lot of people
relate to your story in some way. You have made me realize
that a lot of shit can happen, that on your worst days, don't
give up no matter how hard it is because miracles happen to
those who are patient. I'm sorry people didn't listen to you
and continue to ignore the truth. You deserve nothing but the
very best. You mean sooooo much to me and I'm so proud of
whom you've become as a person and as a mother. The clips of
you in your camo jacket is my favourite. I feel like it's one
that expresses who you are. America's redneck Princess. (and
Canada's) I wanna meet you and give you the BIGGEST hug. You
deserve so much love. I wanna fall on the ice with you, you
seem fun to fall with. You seem like a really fun person in
general. I hope you have a great day today/tomorrow. Have
lots of cake, obviously. I love you. - Amaya

It wouldn't be a Tonya birthday without Gisa!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWLBLbuMWbC/

Today is the birthday of the amazing @therealtonyaharding, so
I'm Posting the second batch of my Nylon flowers that are
inspired by Tonya's famous costumes.
Tonya, I Wish you an awesome Birthday and everything good in
the world.
The flower on the left was inspired by the pretty white and
flooftzy costume that Tonya Made herself.
The one of the right of course was inspired by her famous
Triple Axel costume.
I used Pantyhose fabric, Wire, sparkly chenille wires and
tinsel Garland and If course Glitter paint for the
decorations. Hope you Like them.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUcXNuUMAOd/

Yooptzah everybody (especially fellow Tonya Fans),
I still haven't shown all of my Hand-Made necklaces inspired
by the amazing @therealtonyaharding but here's a new one.
It's inspired by her hot pink costume from Skate America SP
1991 and has a Lot of sparkle.
I used Glass cabochons I hand-painted with several coats of
Nail polish and glued Into Metal settings, Crystal Glass
beads, acrylic beads, metal Pendants, Chain and Wire.
Hope you'll like it.

tonya_hardingfan
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBSsaYAzYe/
She is like fairytale. I have never lost my way because
tonya's story inspired me.

pearl.is.a.bird - montage
https://www.instagram.com/p/CV1hY6RgEX3/

Oliver Flude (ollyflude) Rochdale, UK - Margot as Tonya 3 axel
pencil sketch
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT0RT51oVs9/

McKenna Grace & Steven Rogers on the "I, Tonya" set can be seen
at the start of this video:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CV3uEb3g2tf/

mytypeprint
https://www.instagram.com/p/CT9Iqy0rHNT/
Where were you in 1991?? Celebrate the start of the 90's with
this colourful print (makes a brilliant and slightly bonkers
30th birthday present!). This print was created by sampling
colours from a selection of photographs/images from iconic
moments in 1991. The idea of this minimalistic print is to
condense some of the significant colours and moments of the
year into a visual slice of history.

13. Turquoise/Green of the costume that ice skater Tonya
Harding was wearing when she became the first woman to
perform a Triple Axel in the US Championships.

Princeton Architectural Press (papress) - Tonya outfits color
palette
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVlAjPKMZuq/

Cass Stevens (soggysavoy) - Tonya smoking
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUG86UxBKLW/

Multifandom - harleysbutterfly
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUMejntIU7T/

KP (garfieldfrommemory) - Tonya and Nancy as Garfield cats
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUNJ3QNrsQ9/
SOLD! - THE MIRACLE ON ICE! No, wait, I think I screwed that
up hahaha. Seriously, though, as a kid in 1994, the Nancy
Kerrigan/Tonya Harding incident was about as wild as my small
world had ever gotten (at least since the previous year when
the whole Lorena Bobbitt thing went down). I should've
included that picture of Kerrigan at Disneyland (she is
obviously not feeling the magic) but that's a google image
search rabbit hole I'd rather not go down at present, if only
because I know I could get lost in there forever.

Marie (nixie_doll), France
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUXz0QPoB4M/
"Tonya dit la vérité!" "Ça existe pas la vérité tout le monde
a sa propre vérité." ("Tonya is telling the truth!" "There's
no such thing as truth, everyone has their own truth.")

Emilia (milliecutefoxo) - crying Tonya:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUkVO1vFQvZ/

Emma m (aeemmmoor)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUlbTzhvwHm/

John Klein (johnkleindesign)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CU2BaJgIxnV/
"I do not want to tell this story as if Tonya was a victim.
Somewhat she called herself 'a little tiger' which she was."

japper.arrt
https://www.instagram.com/p/CU8sNewlqDh/

Art by Daniel Soomro (soomro_art)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVLj0YOpNYN/
Day 16. Some tonya harding poses, loved doing this and being
loose again! digital pastel looks amazing i think i shall try
to use it more often. background is an ink wash that
complimented the digital studies so well. a piece where
everything fell into place pretty easily i'm happy:) but gen
deserves all the credit for showing me I, Tonya i loved
watching it with her she stay putting me on.

And finally - just in time for Christmas comes the perfect
decorations: Tonya and Nancy Christmas tree ornaments, courtesy
of Jason Thomas:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158831663099299&set=p.10158831663099299&type=3
(Tonya)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158831663194299&set=p.10158831663194299&type=3
(Nancy)


ANOTHER BRICK IN THE MALL? THE RISE AND FALL OF LLOYD CENTER

Some sad news to finish off with - another important location in
Tonya history is about the bite the dust. The Lloyd Center mall
in Portland, that city's oldest shopping mall and one of the two
main locations where Tonya trained, is likely to shut after over
60 years of operation. A group of financiers is foreclosing on
the mall after its owner, Cypress Equities of Dallas, failed to
make payments on a loan used to fund mall renovations - including
a downsizing of the ice rink - made in the mid 2010s. As the
other rink where Tonya trained, at the Clackamas Town Center
mall, was removed in a remodeling there in 2003, this means that
both of the rinks where Tonya spent most of her time learning her
craft have now been lost.

This news report of the foreclosure has a brief clip of Tonya at
3:16

https://youtu.be/LQvhlf6WYk0?t=146

Opened in 1960 with over 100 stores, Lloyd Center was reckoned to
be the biggest shopping mall in the US at that time, and also the
first in the world with an ice rink. This page has a few photos
on it, including one of Tonya (albeit at Clackamas) and also of
Diane Schatz (now Rawlinson) doing a promotion for Chrysler in
1966:

http://historicpreservationclub.blogspot.com/2014/01/lloyd-center-ice-rink.html

https://historicphotoarchive.photoshelter.com/search?I_DSC=Lloyd%20Center&_ACT=search&I_DSC_AND=t


https://historicphotoarchive.photoshelter.com/image?&_bqG=0&_bqH=eJwzMXDxTMv0iaj0CMz1dkyLyswr90gy0PU09c.2srQyNDAAYSDpGe8S7Gzrk5NfmaLtnJpXklqkBhaKd_RzsS0BskODXYPiPV1sQ0HKSxINLYqDMzMiAh3V4h2dQ2yLUxOLkjMADlYhVA--&GI_ID=

And it was in 1974 that Tonya, at the tender age of what "I,
Tonya" screenwriter Stephen Rogers poetically described as "a
soft 4", first took to the ice under Rawlinson's tutelage, before
later shifting to the Clackamas rink on the other side of town.
However, Tonya would later return to the Lloyd Center rink, this
time as teacher instead of student. In an interview for PDX
Monthly magazine in September, rink manager Don Baldwin, who died
a couple of weeks ago, describes Tonya's time there working as a
coach in the early 2000s:

https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2021/09/lloyd-mall-ice-rink-manager-interview

"Have you had any superstars learn to skate here?

Tonya Harding worked for me as a coach from 2000 to 2002,
roughly. She really knew a lot to pass on to the kids. We try
to be a feeder rink - and by that I mean, we take kids who
have never set foot on ice, and then once they get to a
certain point they are better off going somewhere else. And we
smile and wave goodbye to them and tell them to come back and
visit and tell us how things went, you know?"

Skater and dancer Andrew Parodi also recently shared memories of
his time at the rink as a student of Tonya's, including a
voicemail she left when she couldn't make it to a lesson in 1999:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U-cS1pvF4s
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWCQvDIJ6j7/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CV-btuFpBvt/

"Voicemail Tonya left me years ago. Being on the ice with
Tonya was the most exhilarating experience of my life. But I
remember feeling sorry for her when I said to her, "I feel
like everyone is staring at us." She humbly pointed at
herself and said almost apologetically, "It's because of who I
am." This was long before the movie @itonyamovie was
released, which has since given her some redemption in the
eyes of society. I remember her telling me about the hard time
some people would sometimes give her, the way they would try
to make fun of her. Anyway, she later told me that the reason
she had to fly to Los Angeles was to star in an episode of the
HBO show "Arliss." (It was while I was on the ice with Tonya
that I started to realize I had "feelings" for her. I remember
writing in my journal: "I haven't had a crush on anyone in a
long time, and when I do . it's on Tonya Harding?")

The rink was subjected to two downsizings in its history, the
first in the late 1980s, and the second in the mid-Teens, the
latter leaving it around 25% smaller than before and a bizarre
oval shape - and completely useless for serious competitive
skating. This video, taken in 2011, shows the rink before the
latest butchery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcWvCh_y8Sc

We covered this stupidity at the time, in our August 11, 2015
edition. At that time we wrote:

http://pdxiss.org/port92.htm

"There is also the danger that the redesigned rink will be
such a flop that it will eventually be closed completely.
This will basically leave the mall as a JAFM - Just Another
Frigging Mall that looks like the thousands of others in the
U.S. In an era when malls across America are dying by the
dozen, jeopardizing the future of Lloyd Center's most
distinctive feature is flat-out foolhardy."

As it turned out, these were prophetic words. And while there is
a certain smug satisfaction in being able to say "we told you
so" and in watching Cypress Equities lose its shirt over this,
it's more than outweighed at the sadness of losing another piece
of Tonya - and Portland - history. In the end, Lloyd Center was a
victim of changing retail patterns. Whereas teenagers of the John
Hughes and Kevin Smith era of the '80s and '90s would hang out at
the mall, they are now hanging out on TikTok, Twitter, or the
latest fad social media platform du jour. And they're spending
their money on-line as well, with the likes of Amazon. Toss in
the fact that the Lloyd District area has deteriorated, with
large amounts of drug addicts and homeless, and then a pandemic,
and it was perhaps inevitable that the mall was doomed.

Suggestions for what to do with the mall site have ranged from
housing to a baseball stadium. But we've got a better idea:
change the name slightly from Lloyd Center to Floyd Center - and
make it into the world's largest Pink Floyd Museum. And in honor
of their song "The Thin Ice" from their 1979 album "The Wall", it
should include an absolutely massive skating rink as its
centerpiece:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ciai1aZ_odg

*****************************************************************
VISIT THESE GREAT TONYA WEB SITES:

PortIce - http://www.pdxiss.org
David House - http://www.tonyaharding.org
Charlie Main - http://www.charliesweb.com/tonya/tonya.html
Puppetboy - http://www.usapaul.net/tonya/
Valerie Smith - http://www.olywa.net/radu/valerie/LilHam.html
Swan Lake - http://members.tripod.com/~TonyaHarding/index.html
Blades of Gold - http://members.tripod.com/tmhfan/index.html *****************************************************************

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