By Bryan Dorr
bdorr@bjdorr.com

PORTLAND, Ore. — A 400-square foot gazebo collapsed into the Willamette river behind an condominium complex along S.E. Naito Parkway, between the Steel Bridge and Broadway Bridge, Saturday morning.

A man (name not given), who darted out of his condo with a camera in hand, said he had observed the gazebo standing around 9 a.m. this morning, went back inside for coffee. When he came back out around 9:30 a.m., he found the gazebo partially submerged in the Willamette River.

A woman, also claiming to be a nearby resident, also noticed the collapsed structure. She asked both the man and I when the gazebo collapsed, and had not noticed it in the water earlier.

While on a bike ride, I spotted the collapsed gazebo from the Vera Katz Eastside Esplanade floating pathway near the Burnside Bridge around 9:20 a.m.

Earlier I had shot a self-portrait, while on a bike ride, with the camera pointed downriver. Hoping to use that photo for a time indicator, but unfortunately the gazebo was hiding behind the river wall on the Steel Bridge west bank.

Floating splintered timber from the structure, were found only a few feet from the structure, indicating that the collapse was apparently recent.

The male resident also said, red danger tape and a chain-link fence were in place earlier to keep people off the structure. He also said there was a weakened leg on the structure.

No word if the gazebo will be replaced or not.