June 2008
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
NEwS
City Council hearing on Sears Armory rescheduled for June 12
By Mark Ellis
The Southwest Portland Post
In the matter of the Base Realignment
and Closure (BRAC) process which will
decide the future of the Sears Center
Armory, it’s down to three possible uses
and four proposals.
At a May 8 public meeting at the
facility named for Korean War hero
Jerome F. Sears, David Sheern (Portland
Development Commission associate
project coordinator) briefed citizens
about the City Council hearing on the
matter, rescheduled to June 12 at 2:00
p.m. at City Hall.
Once City Council has made their
recommendation, PDC will submit a
Final Re-Master Plan. The Department
of Defense will then make the final deci-
sion on the site’s new use.
“We will present our findings to the
city council,” said Sheern, “and then
it will be their decision as to what to
submit to the DOD.” Those findings
include a broad analysis of the various
proposals, existing condition of the
property including certification of the
base environment as toxic waste free,
and traffic impact studies based on
proposed usages.
The City Council will also consider a
huge stack of public input surrounding
future use. If the mood at the meeting
was any indication, that input includes
a fair share of contention and concern.
Four proposals made the final cut.
The Housing Authority of Portland
(HAP) and Community Partners for Af-
fordable Housing (CPAH) both propose
that the 1961 vintage armory and site be
converted to a mixed-income housing
development. Under their scenario,
housing opportunities would become
available for the disadvantaged and
homeless.
Westside Christian High School envi-
sions a quality educational facility, and
has agreed, if selected, to contribute
generously to programs aimed at help-
ing the disadvantaged constituency.
The final proposal is for a Portland
Emergency Response Management
(POEM) facility, which entails trans-
forming the site to a center from which
to coordinate city-wide emergency
response mechanisms.
Under the housing plans the existing
facility would be demolished to make
way for new housing units and HAP
and CPAH office complexes. With the
Westside Christian High School and
POEM proposals, the existing brick and
mortar of the base would remain.
In 2005 the Army decided for various
reasons to declare the facility surplus,
with a final pullout scheduled for 2011.
The PDC undertook the BRAC process,
and determined that the site was eli-
gible for residential, educational, or--as
was the case with Army operations-
-office/industrial use. Various propos-
als were put forth, and the March 8th
meeting signaled that the list had been
winnowed down to four.
The Westside Christian High School
proposal would house the school’s
administrative offices and classroom
space enough for 275 students. “We
well
be
…
and well informed
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Portland City Council will hold a hearing on June 12 to help decide the fate of the Sears
Armory. (Post file photo by Don Snedecor)
believe that Westside Christian is the
ideal reuse candidate for the Sears Ar-
mory,” said Westside principal Andy
Sears, who affirms that the school’s
plan is the only proposal not requiring
public funds.
“Instead,” says Sears, “public funds
are generated.” Project manager Steve
Reiff said, “Westside Christian is a high
quality academic institution that would
be a long term asset to the neighbor-
hood.”
The school has committed to pro-
vide community space on the grounds
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should they become the new owners,
and have agreed, if selected, to contrib-
ute generously to long term funding
of the city’s Home Again Mentoring
program, aimed at helping the home-
less and disadvantaged constituency.
Under both the HAP and CPAH
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