Cal Storrs: All It Takes is a Spark: Reflections on the Holladay Park We Know
Over a whirlwind 90 days this summer, our three Summer Programming Leads worked to fill Holladay Park with life, community, and connection. As part of our Lloyd Live at the Park grant-funded sprint, they planned and hosted events designed to bring neighbors together. In this series, we asked each of them to share their reflections on the experience, the people they met, and the lessons they learned. Read Dan’s reflection here and Wally’s here. The following is Cal’s:
As the weather cools and we head into the Portland fall, reflecting on the summer feels a bit of a blur. A novel, nostalgic kind of blur peppered with the bright greens of sunlight filtering through the tree leaves in Holladay Park and the bouncing bass and vibrant colors of DJ sets at Duckworth Dock.
I was hired as one of three Summer Programming Leads as part of a grant sprint program with the Lloyd Ecodistrict. Our job was to plan and execute 90 days of events as possible in Holladay Park across from the Lloyd Center mall to build community and increase local engagement with the park. The three of us hit the ground running, setting up regular Coffee & Coworking events, Sunday Concerts, and other popular repeats from Community Swaps (like a free yard sale) to aerial dance performances in collaboration with AWOL dance.
The initial frenzy of event planning and logistical puzzles eventually calmed to a familiar rhythm. I found myself enjoying spending my days outside in the park or down at the dock, meeting people where they are at. It has also been a small joy to see the Lloyd Center mall, an establishment of my childhood nostalgia, still continue even as business has declined over the last decade or so. And I know I’m not alone—I chatted with a man passing through the park from the MAX station on his way to the mall. He shared that he lives out near Gresham, but he still visits from time to time. His grandmother used to take him to the mall when he was a kid.
It warms my heart to see the small, local, indie shops that keep the Lloyd Center alive, long after almost all the big box retailers have left, from Keia and Martyn’s coffee shop to Floating World Comics, Michael at Secondhand Pet Supply to James from Brickdiculous, and the build-your-own-lightsaber store Docking Bay 45 to ZRE music. There’s even the Portland chess club, Trash for Peace, and the Mall Rats Food Court 5000 epic themed mall walks led by Vera Mysteria (who emcee’d Camp Holladay, a picnic for queer joy!). And still more!
The folks we met in the park for those 90 days, housed and unhoused, all had stories and experiences and ties to the place. From seeing regulars at our weekly events like our friends at Go Lloyd, or our neighbors who came by to donate to our Community Swaps, or the dogs we got to know (we love you, Lola and Hercules, and Apollo!), we felt the connections the events were making. The demographics in the district are changing. As more residential options go up and office spaces go down, more people are moving into the area long term, as opposed to the transience of the 12 hotels in the area and the thoroughfares of I-5, Grand, Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, and Broadway, criss-crossing the district.
What also struck me about this summer was how important preventative measures are versus perfect. And what I mean by that is it was hard to navigate the ways our society has failed our unhoused neighbors and the way folks are punished for living on the streets. For example, we provided a porta-potty for almost the entire period, only removing it with a week left to go because the providing company wanted to find a way to keep homeless people from using it. Which was, in large part, the point for us. When the Lloyd Ecodistrict surveyed over a hundred residents housed and unhoused over the winter of 2024-25, one of the top needs people cited was public restrooms. Although our porta-potty solution was not perfect, and we ran into bumps, it was preventative, providing a place where people could relieve themselves rather than the previous option of going in the park landscaping or fountain.
I also learned that sometimes all it takes is a spark. We had many attendees tell us how much these events were needed, were enjoyed, and brought the area together. I hope that this momentum continues beyond this summer and into the future of Lloyd Center redevelopment and changing infrastructure. I hope the indie businesses thrive, whether at the mall or elsewhere in the city when the mall changes, and I hope the Lloyd community continues to come together in the park.