Skip to main content
Portland’s best fire hydrants won’t be useful in a fire. Instead, they brighten up the city’s newest public space and spark online discourse among fans of Rose City ragebait. Darcelle XV Plaza (800 SW Harvey Milk St., portland.gov/parks/darcelle-xv-plaza) opened June 18 after two years of construction renovating the structurally unsound O’Bryant Square (fka Paranoid Park). Now, it’s a gated public square named for the late icon, the world record–holding madame of the Old Town drag club Darcelle XV Showplace. It features cafe seating, staging fit for city-sponsored concerts, and an adjacent gated dog park decorated with six retired fire hydrants that sport flamboyant paint jobs and kind of almost make a rainbow: hot pink, orange, yellow, mint green, deep blue and lilac.
A Facebook video with more than 900 comments posted June 28 claimed the hydrants, which had not yet been installed at Darcelle XV Plaza, were part of a plan to install Pride-themed hydrants across the city. Some commenters had fun with the bit: “Fellas, is it gay to have a yellow fire hydrant?” Others took the bait: “Did they ask the hydrant its pronouns before painting?”
A city spokesperson told WW that the Portland Water Bureau donated the decommissioned hydrants, while Portland Parks & Recreation spent $7,000 to refurbish, paint and install them. “The hydrants are meant to reflect that classic story of dogs and hydrants, to provide a historic cast-iron unifying element across the park, and emphasize the iconic rainbow theme of inclusivity,” Mark Ross, Parks & Rec’s public information officer, said via email.
See the rest of Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2026 here!
