That was the gasp we heard from an out-of-state visitor yesterday in front of the Columbia River Park Trail Services Building. The park visitor made the observation while comparing the roof colors of the new Trail Services Building and the pavilion next to it.

The architectural rendering at the doors of the building do show a structure with a green roof. Yet the roof of the building is brown and in contrast with the pavilion’s green roof.

Aesthetics be damned.

How to change a culture of dumping trash anywhere? That’s the million dollar question. A park visitor dropped a plastic bag, most likely filled with trash, on the sidewalk in front of the nearly completed Trail Services Building. And cigarette butts carelessly flicked are seemingly everywhere on the park property.

The decision to take away the trash containers, which probably were pretty expensive, leaves careless visitors with a dilemma of “What to do with my trash?” Instead of taking trash with them, they simply pitch it in the park.

Instead of not smoking in the park, they simply pitch their cigarette butts onto the ground (and ultimately into the River).

We can do better!

On the other side of the River, here’s the view from atop Highpoint Scenic Vista and Recreation Area. The photo’s not great, but for an inexpensive mobile phone camera, not all bad.

The view a bit to the east from the top is Lauxmont. There must have been, or going to be, a big time event there. The ten pole tent is quite impressive from a distance. Don’t you wonder how many people it takes to erect something like this? Click here to see Lauxmont on facebook.