April 9, 2008

Street fair marks completion of major light rail construction along NW 6th Ave

The Next Big Thing Downtown event May 1st

On Thursday, May 1st TriMet will celebrate completion of major light rail construction on 6th Avenue in Old Town/Chinatown. The 6th Avenue Street Fair event features live music, art gallery shows, a farmers market and a skateboarding jam.

6th Ave Street Fair

Thursday, May 1st 5-9 p.m.

• Pedi-cabs will provide free rides up and down 6th Avenue between NW Burnside and Hoyt streets
• Portland Classical Chinese Garden is free during fair hours
• Artist Dane Wilson’s work at the Rake Art Gallery; Artists Ted Katz and Dorothy Goode’s work at Butters Gallery
• A farmers market will be located near the Greyhound Station
• A skateboarding jam in front of Cal Skate

Cover charges apply to the following club shows:

• Punk Rock show at Club Satyricon starting at 6 p.m.
• Susannah Mars and Tom Grant will perform at Wilf’s starting at 7:30 p.m.
• Comedian Jeff Burghart will perform at 8 p.m. at Harvey’s Comedy Club

The street fair is the second in a series of The Next Big Thing Downtown events. Each event will celebrate completion of major construction of different segments of the Portland Mall Light Rail project, set to open in Sept. 2009. The Mall project is more than 50 percent complete; heavy civil construction is 78 percent complete.

About the project

TriMet's fifth MAX line will add light rail to 5th and 6th avenues in downtown Portland between Union Station and Portland State University (PSU), and between Gateway Transit Center and Clackamas Town Center. It is the first light rail extension into Clackamas County, it will serve the heart of downtown Portland and the busiest transit destination in the TriMet system - PSU. When it opens in September 2009, it will help revitalize the Mall and poise the region for future rail extensions.