PORTLAND, Ore. — While living on the streets of Portland, sometimes the little things are hard to find, such as a bathroom and a place to sleep or sit down without being told to move. That’s why the base of two large sculptures off Northwest Davis Street and Third Avenue tend to draw a crowd.

“We like to just sit on them and hang out for a place to chill and talk,” said Jason, who is homeless in Old Town and was addicted to heroin before turning to fentanyl. He admits they use the sculptures for more than just sitting. 

“Do people use drugs here? Yes. People are using that stuff everywhere, unfortunately,” he added.

In an attempt to cut down on drug use and dealing around the sculptures, the Old Town Chinatown Community Association pays about $400 a month to fence off the area. 

However, the controversy around the Chinese sculptures goes deeper than that and dates back to the early 2000s when the sculptures were installed in 2006. The sculptures were as part of a streetscape improvement project paid for by Prosper Portland to celebrate the Chinese history in Old Town. 

“No one contacted the Chinese American community and asked for their input,” said Hong Cheng Zhao, the president of the Oregon Chinese Coalition.

The sculpture is made of granite and meant to represent a Chinese dragon. A stainless-steel collar is wrapped around the dragon’s neck. Zhao said it looked as if it were choking. 

“It was a horrific image… It just couldn’t be worse than that,” he said. 

After outcry from the Chinese American community, the dragon’s head was removed. 

However, for the impacted community, the timing of the sculpture installation represented a turning point for Chinatown.

“The bigger picture is look at what has happened in Chinatown — the government, almost exactly at the same time, has started to move social services agencies into our neighborhoods,” Zhao explained.

Homeless people and those addicted to fentanyl now flood the area and often use just about anything to find relief, even the base of what was meant to be a symbol of respect.  

“People did pee a lot there, too, which is kind of gross. They used it like, as a bathroom,” said Tyler Mahan, who’s lived in an Old Town apartment for 12 years and often sees what goes on at the sculptures. “Drugs here are just so bad.” 

“They put the fence here … It’s like a bandage, fundamentally; they need to change and the way how they think,” said Zhao.

After three years, the community association finally got the approval to decommission the artwork and remove the sculptures, which they hope to do by August or September.

Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office did not immediately respond to KGW for comment.