BUBBLES AND COOL DRINKS

Thirsty tourists and newcomers to downtown Portland, Oregon quickly learn about one of the city's most famous urban legends, the reason for the placement of the city's first bubbling water fountain in 1912. It seems that lumberman Simon Benson became tired of seeing his thirsty loggers find nothing in town to drink except beer and whiskey. Being a teetotaler, he made it possible for them to drink cool water instead.

Mr. Benson donated $10,000 to the city for twenty unique bubbling water fountains. The legend tells that after the first bubblers were in place, the amount of beer and whiskey consumed dropped by almost fifty percent. Whether or not the fact is true, Portland is grateful that Mr. Benson was a philanthropic resident at the turn of the century.

To design the water fountain according to his plan, Mr. Benson, a civic-minded community leader, contacted architect A. E. Doyle, who had designed both the county library and the elegant Meier & Frank building in Portland. Named "Benson Bubbler" by the people of Portland, the design was unique. It was a neatly styled, bronze four-bowl fountain, which was installed at SW Fifth and Washington. Simon's gift was for twenty bubblers; however, the City not only installed the twenty bubblers, but also continued to add funds that made it possible to have forty bubblers in place by 1917.

Through the century, the City continued to place additional bubblers, according to specific, strict guidelines. The only place outside of Portland where a Benson Bubbler has been placed is in Portland's Sister City, Suzhou, China. In response, Suzhou designed a gift for Portland that brings quiet moments and joy to the citizens: a Classical Chinese garden that was designed by artisans and architects from Suzhou and placed in the Chinese area of downtown Portland.

A unique bubbler has been placed in the Portland's downtown North Park Blocks to provide cool, fresh water to a special group of Portland citizens: canines. The ground-level dog fountain is located in an urban park. The Portland Dog Bowl resembles a patch of linoleum kitchen floor with a bowl-a bit tall for small dogs with short necks which can only get the water if they can climb over the rim. The tiled area is 8 feet by 10 feet with checkerboard black and white granite tiles. To lend visual interest, four of the squares are artificial turf. The cast-bronze bowl, with water bubbling up from an underground source as a canine

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