Ibiza – closed

I wrote about this restaurant opening in October and now it is closed. and it doesn’t look like it closed gracefully. There are numerous notices on the doors and windows from the lien holder – House of Gold, Inc.

I look inside at all the nice furniture and tablecloths and general accoutrement that will now be sold yet again either to a new tenant or another restaurant. Its sad. This location can’t support restaurants for some reason. I feel sorry for the employees who were affected by an owner’s less than diligent market research.

4 months.

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• October 18, 2008 -- When restaurants can’t take a hint (5)
• December 20, 2009 -- Pseudo-Southern Hillbilly Redneck Weekend (1)
• January 9, 2009 -- Walmart and Home Depot are flooding I5 at Chehalis (5)
• December 24, 2008 -- TriMet MAX Yellow line down for 3+ days (14)
• December 10, 2008 -- Meat Cheese Bread (5)

CIMG0391
Originally uploaded by dieselboi

Not really, but…. The photo to the left was taken mere hours before I5 was closed due to flooding in Chehalis on Wednesday, about 135 miles north of Portland. This is the second year in a row that I5 has been closed at this spot, creating a mess on the interstate that connects Canada, the USA and Mexico. This is huge people.

I have been traveling I5 to Chehalis and points beyond now for the better part of 11 years visiting in-laws and extended family. Many live in this area and while they do remember some flooding, they have no memory of it closing I5. I remember always commenting on the huge fields flanking I5 around this area being covered in water during the rainy season (which up there seems to be 365 days a year, but I digress…) Yet there was never flooding over I5 or of the rivers nearby until, interestingly enough, a huge Walmart/Home Depot complex was built. Hmmm. What are the odds that a huge development with pavement parking lots has anything to do with the recent flooding? I would say high probability. In an area that gets a huge amount of liquid sunshine, it has to go somewhere. When you pave over that “somewhere,” the liquid will find other places to go, like the freeway.

I can only assume that they did all the necessary environmental assessments and such because this is the NW. I just wonder if they took into account the 100yr and 101yr flood history. Also, I wonder if they were looking at the immediate gain of having such big box stores and not thinking of the millions that are currently being lost due to I5 being shut down for 5 days. Sad to see the mess these storms are wreaking and the personal cost in this down economy, but sometimes we should sit back and ask ourselves why this is happening more now when it didn’t in the past?

Thanks Walmart. Thanks Home Depot. Thanks Toyota dealership.

A few more photos.

Related Posts

• February 11, 2009 -- Ibiza – closed (4)
• January 24, 2009 -- “The process of remaking America” Starts at Home (0)
• January 2, 2009 -- Photos of Flooding in Oregon City (4)
• January 2, 2009 -- A River Runs Through It (2)
• December 24, 2008 -- TriMet MAX Yellow line down for 3+ days (14)

HMMF.  I’m a little annoyed at TriMet for not getting the Yellow line up and running.  I know there is snow and ice out there and they can barely get their fleet up to 50%, but I want to whine anyway.  I see that the Blue and Red lines are running properly every 15 minutes, so why not the Yellow?  If you go look at the tracks, no one from TriMet has even tried to clear them.

Portland has a history of ignoring North Portland.  Is this another case of that?  I keep hearing in the news that the issue is with frozen switches.  Why doesn’t the most recent and newest line in the city not have heated switches like the other lines?  I wonder if they skimped on the Green line also.  Was someone trying to save a few bucks at the expense of a whole section of the city?

What are your thoughts?  Let the holiday kvetching begin!

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• January 27, 2009 -- No excuse for not having a valid fare on TriMet (35)
• December 7, 2009 -- Portland Police: The Problem is Perception (3)
• September 28, 2009 -- A Green Line Redux (2)
• September 1, 2009 -- Irritation to the MAX (1)
• August 24, 2009 -- Sleek, Sexy… and Inconvenient (12)