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Over the past week, TriMet has been explaining why "Working" Kirk Reeves, the most suggested name for the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge, isn't an appropriate choice.
Chet Orloff, the chair of the bridge naming committee, said Wednesday that Reeves, who performed on trumpet for commuters until his suicide in 2012, doesn't have the "historical and lasting significance" required for the transit bridge.
Orloff said a better way to honor the street musician would be to erect a statue on the Hawthorne Bridge, near where Reeves played.
This weekend, someone did.
The Kirk Reeves statue, spotted by an alert WW reader on Sunday night, is made of papier mâché over a wire frame. The newspaper body is spray-painted white (like Reeves' distinctive tuxedos) except for the black-painted Mickey Mouse ears.
The figure is seated on a wooden chair on a traffic island on the Hawthorne Bridge's eastbound on-ramp, where Reeves often serenaded drivers during rush hours.
The makers of the memorial left no sign indicating their identity or intent.
WW wrote about the campaign to name a bridge after Reeves last year.
WWeek 2015