The Oregonian printed a reader's comment today, to the effect that the Fill-to-Pill-Hill Tram has the potential to be Portland's Eiffel Tower, a landmark that signifies the city the way that the Eiffel Tower means Paris. The reader said that the City should cheerfully pungle up the cash to finish the Ftpht, because it will provide civic value for years to come.
This brought to mind the nearly-forgotten fact that the Eiffel Tower was built with a design life of only 20 years, and as it aged, Parisians struggled with how to pay to maintain and operate it. In 1925 they found the answer, one which did not interfere with the functionality of the Tower and which the City of Portland might well emulate with the tram.
The fabulous Andre Citroen, founder of the eponymous motorcar company, provided the solution. He rented one side of the tower and installed 125,000 light bulbs that sent the word "CITROEN" shining over the City of Light. (You can see what his advertising sign looked like, here, about halfway down the page.) The tower at OHSU, the support tower near Barbur Boulevard, and the North Macadam tram station will offer some fine locations for light-up advertising, and bring in a substantial contribution toward the Ftpht's operating deficit. I can envision Legacy Health Systems springing for a sign, maybe even at the OHSU station.