Page 18
December 2013
The Charbonneau Villager
Christmas Eve '83 Brought Trouble to Charbonneau
Looking Back . . .
A Series of Historical Vignettes
on Charbonneau and the Area
MICK SCOTT
The bubble burst early
Christmas Eve Day, 1983.
A Christmas weekend
storm wreaked havoc on
Charbonneau. Biting cold,
gusting wind and blowing
snow swept the region. The
low that day was a frigid
14 degrees in Portland,
11 degrees in Salem. To
the east, Burns recorded a
high of -1, and Baker a low
of -34. It was -52 degrees
in Butte, Mont., a national
low.
In Charbonneau, a
broken water main on
Sacajawea Way resulted
in an ice-slick street that
was virtually impassable.
Plumbers were hard to find
because of the holidays and
couldn't keep up with the
deluge of service requests
to repair broken pipes
throughout the community.
Canby Plumbing received
more than 100 calls for
service from Charbonneau
residents.
The most serious damage in Charbonneau was
the collapse of the inflated
bubble that enclosed the
tennis courts. It didn't
help that efforts to secure
the floundering mess of
tarp were foiled by wind
gusts of up to 75 mph.
The collapse of the tennis
bubble in the early morning of Christmas Eve Day
was the start of even more
bubble trouble. There soon
would be a squabble - perhaps dissension would be
more like it. Neighbors
were at odds with one
another and the developer about how the bubble
should be replaced and just
who would pay the price.
There would be no love lost
in this match.
The tennis facility was
not only important to most
residents, but also to Willamette Factors, Charbonneau developer and a
subsidiary of its parent
company, Benj. Franklin
Federal Savings & Loan.
Charbonneau was being
promoted for its lifestyle
and recreational amenities
that included swimming
pools, jogging and bicycle
paths, golf course and, of
course, enclosed tennis.
More than 150 residents
attended a meeting in late
January to discuss the
replacement of the bubble.
The options: resurrect the
bubble, eliminate the bubble and provide four open
courts or appoint a task
force to study alternatives.
Marvin Miller, the tennis club president who fathered tennis in Charbonneau, recommended a task
force study. His action was
endorsed by Edith Green,
a revered Charbonneau
resident and former U.S.
Congresswoman who also
happened to be a member
of Benj. Franklin's board of
directors.
So, a committee was
formed, made up of representatives from Willamette
Factors, the tennis club
and country club. An outside consultant, hired by
Willamette Factors, would
contribute to the study.
Robert Oddermatt, Charbonneau's lead architect
from the San Franciscobased ROMO, would estimate the cost of a new
facility, whether it was a
replacement bubble or an
alternative structure.
In April, the task force
presented residents with
a proposal for a wooden
building, compatible in
design to surrounding
structures. It would house
a 75-foot-long lap pool,
locker rooms, restrooms
and showers, as well as
two enclosed tennis courts.
The building would also
be multi-purpose, not only
The storm-ravaged tennis bubble lies on the courts following the
Christmas WfRF