Ice skating rink opening in downtown Portland this winter

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - It may be hard to believe, but the holidays are right around the corner, which means you might want to start thinking about buying gifts for your loved ones.

With that in mind, city leaders like Commissioner Carmen Rubio, Mayor Ted Wheeler and local business owners got together Wednesday morning to invite Portlanders to shop locally this holiday season at downtown stores.

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“Go shop, shop at your favorite shop, take in an event, that’s an action you can do to help revitalize Portland, it’s easy and it’s fun,” said Kristin Vanbuskirk, the owner of Woonwinkel.

Vanbuskirk said it means a lot to have city leaders’ support in more ways than one.

“When they say they’ve increased police patrols, I see increased police patrols. When they say they have increased downtown clean and safe patrols, I see that visibly outside of my store,” Vanbuskirk said. “So, it really does mean a lot to see those leaders out here and see the evidence and action behind what they have said.”

You don’t have to just shop downtown. There will also be events like the nightly menorah lighting in Pioneer Courthouse Square and the 32nd Annual Tuba Christmas Concert. You can also visit the My People’s Market at the Oregon Convention Center which will feature 150 businesses.

“The holiday season is a critical and crucial season for small businesses. For a lot of them, this is when they make the bulk of their money so it’s really important to be supporting our small local businesses. My People’s Market brings them together and makes it easy for you to do that and you can bring the whole family,” said Amanda Park, a senior project manager at Prosper Portland.

Commissioner Rubio also made an exciting announcement that there will be a fully-tented ice skating rink and ‘woodsy winter village’ at the west side of the Morrison Bridge this year. It can accommodate 120 skaters at a time and opens December 16.

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“While some folks can skate, you can go lounge around by a fire pit, grab something warm to drink, just hang out,” Park said. “I think it’s a really great way to kind of step into the next phase of what downtown is offering for the Portland community and we hope it becomes a new tradition for the city.”

SmartPark garages will also offer free parking on the weekends beginning November 24 and going through December 31.

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