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About St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2015)
Email: reviewnewspaper@gmail.com * Mail: PO Box 83068, Port. OR 97283 * Web: www.stjohnsreview.com * Phone: 503-283-5086 COMMUNITY NEWS Grimm again fi nds St. Johns is the perfect backdrop The popular show is fi lming its fi fth season here By Jackie Larson Review Reporter “We’ve done a lot of fi lming in St. Johns in the last four years,” empha- sizes key assis- tant shooting location manag- er Shaun Gavin. “We really like the bridge and down by the river, when we are looking for that kind of stuff. When we need a forest scene, Pier Park works really well.” Local residents have become quite familiar with the hit TV show cast and crew and settling in with cameras, crew, and casts for multi-day fi lming sessions. To many it appears to be a partner- ship that works. Onlookers like to see the cameras in action in their neighborhoods and get be- hind-the-scenes glimpses, while vendors benefi t from a bit of foot traffi c. Overall, 200 local people are employed thanks to the show being fi lmed entirely in the Port- land and surrounding area. During the fi rst week of Au- gust, scenes for season fi ve were fi lmed here. “We were at Pier Park for three days straight. Mostly at night so thankfully it had cooled down a bit. That park works for spooky night scenes,” Shaun said. Where else would the descendant of a group of hunters known as Grimms fi ght to save humanity from sinister supernat- ural storybook charac- ters who have infi ltrat- ed the real world and who roam present-day Portland, Oregon? Gavin adds that St. Johns has always been welcom- ing to the crew, and that there is plenty of both old homes and trees. “We tend to gravitate to- ward older architecture.” When will fi lming happen in St. Johns again? As this issue goes to print, the location managers ar- en’t sure yet. They get about one to two weeks’ notice; whenever they receive a script. Notifi cation is always provided in advance to St. Johns Main Street and through social media notices re- garding when and where parking will blocked. According to the NBC website, the fi rst episode of this season airs October 30. Will you be tun- ing in to look for a few familiar landmarks? LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Keep our unique landmark Dear Editor, I am writing to request the pow- ers that be save Ivy Island. (The one people have worked so hard to get and maintain.) It is located close to that “ blind corner” at the approach of St. Johns. It’s funny to me, and I think the majority of people that grew up in St. Johns, don’t think it is a “blind corner” at all. Growing up in St. Johns, and still a member of the community, I am hoping that beautiful island that is so welcoming to our communi- ty stays put. With all the changes and infl ux of new people moving here, can’t we save some of our last unique landmarks? St. Johns is already not looking like the di- amond in the rough it once was. Please keep the island. Rhonda Wittkopp ======================== Is it really in the St. Johns Lombard Plan? Dear Editor, About the Lombard/Ivy Island/ Richmond development. I keep hearing how the authority for this project is the SJ/Lombard Plan. But this project looks only superfi cially like that plan. In the drawing with the original plan, essentially the Lombard slip was blocked off and Ivy Island be- comes a pleasant grassy knoll for pedestrians. The only buildings in the 2004 plan were the one-story structures of the current Huk Lab and the Hookah Lounge. The plan is unassuming and almost cute when compared to the current proposal. It does little to radically change the parking and traffi c pat- Univ of Portland announces plans for new residence hall University of Portland has an- nounced plans to construct a new residence hall with room for ap- proximately 270 students. The hall will be located on the UP campus adjacent to the newly constructed Beauchamp Recreation & Well- ness Center. The University aims to have the project begin this sum- mer and be completed prior to the start of the 2016-17 academic year. The ground fl oor of the new res- idence hall will include a spacious lobby, a classroom, offi ce space, a dining concession, and a chap- el, while the top three fl oors will house students. An architectural rendering of the new building is at- tached; more renderings are avail- able here. As a Catholic university, the Uni- versity of Portland has been guid- ed by the Congregation of Holy Cross since its founding in 1901, and central to the Holy Cross tra- dition of educating the whole per- son is providing opportunities for students to experience life togeth- er on campus living in communi- ty. With the construction of Fields and Schoenfeldt Halls, renova- tions to existing dorms, and com- pletion of the new residence hall, the University will have increased its on-campus student housing ca- pacity by 53 percent since 2009. The University is also commit- ted to providing more on-campus activities for students with the new Beauchamp Recreation & Wellness Center, a renovated and expanded student lounge, and in- creased weekend and evening events via the Pilots After Dark program. University of Portland’s Presi- dent, Fr. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C. notes, “One of the hallmarks of the UP experience is living and learn- ing on the campus. A greater num- ber of our students wish to remain in our residence halls throughout their college years and this new hall allows us to meet the demand for more on-campus living.” The announcement of the new dormitory marks the latest achieve- ment in a remarkable period of success for the University. It will be the 12th new or renovated cam- pus facility to be completed since 2009, joining the new recreation and wellness center (Beauchamp Center); a completely renovated library (Clark Library); a state- of-the-art engineering hall (Shiley Hall); two new dormitories (Fields and Schoenfeldt Halls); a remod- eled and vastly expanded dining The St. Johns Review * #17 - Aug. 21, 2015 * Page 3 facility (Bauccio Commons); a bell tower; a renovated and ex- panded student lounge and dining facility (Pilot House – to be com- pleted in Fall 2015); a renovat- ed science building (Romanaggi Hall); an expanded and renovated multipurpose athletic and events facility (Chiles Center); and an up- graded baseball stadium (Joe Etzel Field). In recent years UP has welcomed several record freshman classes – in size, academic achievement, and diversity; set a new record every year for the number of freshman applications; and been recognized both regionally and nationwide for its academic quality, number of competitive scholarships won by students and alumni, and its return on investment. In addition to cam- pus improvements and garnering institutional recognition, the Uni- versity has increased scholarships for students, established endowed chairs and professorships, and ex- panded faculty research opportu- nities. terns of St. Johns (except for the right turn lane,) and had no impact on James John Elementary School. It DID NOT involve a four-story mega structure, apartments, restau- rants, retail stores and all the prob- lems that we are discovering with that. So, what are some of the prob- lems? 1) Parking by James John Elemen- tary will be non-existent. Using the Marvel 29 as an example of what’s to come, parking on Alta and under the bridge is becoming non-existent, as it’s becoming on Baltimore and as it’s rippling out towards Chicago. Ask anyone in these neighborhoods. I think we can expect a similar parking situ- ation to happen from this new de- velopment on Lombard, John St, Charleston, and Richmond. 2) Increased traffi c on Charleston and Smith. A good route for our new tenants to take to go to I-5 and Vancouver. Also those of us who live on the east end of SJ will now use Smith Street coming into SJ, rather than Lombard. We would do this to avoid the right turn con- gestion on Lombard, and also for the same reason, we won’t be us- ing Oswego ( and probably go two blocks down and use Charleston). 3) Increased traffi c on Mohawk to avoid the right turn congestion on Lombard. 4) Lombard right turn congestion entering the SJ Business district. 5) A parking garage that will have its in and out traffi c fl ow facing di- rectly into James John Elementary School. 6) How is food and merchandise going to be delivered to the retail stores and restaurants? Where are the 20 ft. to 40 ft. delivery trucks going to park as they make their deliveries? On Charleston? Lom- bard? And if they can’t fi nd a park- ing spot, as they do every place else, they’ll just park it in the mid- dle of the street until they’re done. 7) Loss of Ivy Island. A charming and original segue into St Johns. Why are we not asking for a smaller project? If the city de- clined to vacate its property and NOT give it to the developer, he would need to downsize. Smaller is more in tune with Downtown St Johns, Why not ask the city NOT to vacate its property? What’s wrong with that? A smaller proj- ect would lessen or completely dissolve the problems listed here. It also would be more in character with St Johns. If you want to compare the original plan, it’s in the St Johns Library or just Google “St Johns/ Lombard Plan” (that’s it! Easy- peasy,) 2nd or 3rd entry down. Then go to page 38 to see the orig- inal plan for Lombard/Ivy Island/ Richmond. John Teply Atelier Gallery ======================== Protesters = money Dear Editor, Sometimes I don’t’ mind protest- ers but when it comes down to costing the taxpayers of St. Johns money, then I think Greenpeace should pay for the police/coast guard and whoever had to get paid to handle this incident. CM Hinkle Sending Letters To The Editor: Letters to the St. Johns Review are welcome and encouraged. They must be legibly written, typed or emailed to the addresses at the top of this page. They must contain a name. Anonymous let- ters are not read or printed. Let- ters and the opinions expressed are not necessarily the views of the editor. Letters may be edited for grammar, spelling, or length, according to availability of room in the paper. The St. Johns Re- view newspaper nor the editor are responsible for opinions or con- tent of letters.