April 2015
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 7
Emergency Bureau submits budget request for former Sears Armory improvements
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
The construction equipment and
materials are gone from the parking
lot of the former Sears Armory located
at Southwest Multnomah Boulevard
and 25th Avenue. Trees have been
planted along the sidewalk median in
front of the building. Pedestrians and
bicyclists enjoy the new transportation
improvements.
Yet the old armory building remains
eerily quiet, dark, and unoccupied.
Progress is happening, albeit at a slow
bureaucratic pace.
In February, the Bureau of Emergency
Management submitted a budget
request to Mayor Charlie Hales for
$897,132 to make accessibility upgrades
to the West Side Emergency Operations
Center, formerly known as the SFC
Jerome F. Sears Army Reserve Center.
This request accounts for 15 percent
of the Emergency Bureau’s budget. The
total bureau request was $5,829,121.
According to Dan Douthit, a public
information officer with the Emergency
Bureau, the budget will include bringing
the building in compliance with the
Americans with Disabilities Act. It will
also remove physical barriers benefitting
persons with accessibility needs.
It will also allow the building to
become available for occupancy by city
bureaus dedicated to responding in an
emergency and for community meetings
of the Neighborhood Emergency Team
program.
“In addition to the pending budget
request,” Douthit said, “full funding has
already been secured to put in a fueling
station at the site.”
For the fueling project, approximately
$12 million was secured by the city
council, not just for the emergency
center, but also to upgrade five other
fueling stations around Portland and
add another station east of Interstate
205.
The project is currently in the planning
phase. Construction won’t begin until
permits have been secured and the site
master plan is complete.
“My best guess is no sooner than six
months from now,” Douthit said.
Other site improvements include
relocating parking and storm water
improvements.
In February, the Bureau of Emergency Management requested approximately $900,000
for improvements to the former Sears Armory building in Multnomah.
(Post file photo by Erik Vidstrand, September 2014)
“We’re still early into this process
having just secured funding last
fall,” Douthit explained. “We will
share site plans with the Multnomah
Neighborhood Association when we’re
further along into the design phase.
“We’ll know in the next few months if
the budget will be approved,” Douthit
added.
For budget info and updates go to
http://www.portlandoregon.gov/cbo/
article/517659
Sellwood Bridge to be closed weekend of April 17-19 for traffic pattern change
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
Due to great weather this past winter,
the Sellwood Bridge is progressing
smoothly. One of three arch spans
that will connect the two sides of the
Willamette River arrived by barge
right after New Year’s Day.
Each span features two arch ribs
made of weathering steel. This means
The east and center arch span segments on the new Sellwood Bridge are installed in
sequence designed to load the weight evenly between the two spans. (Photo courtesy of
Multnomah County)
it won’t need painting and has a rust
color.
Fabricated at Thompson Metal Fab
in Vancouver, Wash., ironworkers
erected the west arch span in January.
The arch ribs are so large and heavy
they have to be installed in three
segments.
“Each span weighs up to 300,000
pounds,” commented Mike Pullen,
project spokesperson. “More than
3,000 bolts will be used at each
connection between arch segments.”
In early March, another barge
arrived from Vancouver carrying
segments for the eastern span. The east
and center spans will be installed in an
alternating sequence that will carefully
load the weight of the arches onto the
concrete piers and foundations that
support them.
Recently, the contractor demolished
most of the old east approach to the
bridge. Traffic was shifted onto the
new east approach. The contractor is
currently building the north half of the
east approach (where the old bridge
used to be).
The section of Tacoma Street between
6th Avenue and the bridge will also be
rebuilt this year, with new sidewalks
and tree planters.
A public art project called Stratum
will later be installed along the
sidewalks in this area as a gateway
feature where the bridge enters the
Sellwood neighborhood.
“The artist, Mikyoung Kim, is based
in Boston,” Pullen announced, “and
is funded by the city of Portland. It’s
their contribution to the project.”
The installation includes a series of
twisted steel columns, or totems, that
represent the earth, river, and sky from
the project area. Inspired by the power
and beauty of the geologic and natural
phenomena of the Willamette River
Valley, the totems are layers of various
recycled and formed materials.
The contractor plans to close the
bridge to all traffic from 7 p.m. on Fri.,
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