Committed to Cultural Diversity w w w .portlandobservcr.com February' 2, 2000 50' CTTlje ^Jnrtbxnb (©bserucr 0 l i t 111 l l 11 i t u a I e i t it a r Peidmont residents meet with developers of their future homes Poems Over Broadway! Poem s O ver B roadw ay! Is ou r m onthly open m ike poetry reading for poets o f all ages, skill levels and styles W ith an intim ate, relaxed and non-confrontational atmosphere, it’s great for first-tim e readers. Poetry lovers w ill enjoy m eeting and hearing poets from the area read their work. T he event w ill be at B arnes & N oble at NE Broadw ay and 13lhon Friday, February 11 at 7 p.m. Free Photography Contest T he International L ibrary o f Photography is pleased to announce that over $60,000.00 in prizes w ill be aw arded this year in the International O pen A m ateur Photography Contest. P hotographers from the Portland area, particularly beginners, are w elcom e to try to win their share o f over 1,300 prizes. T he deadline for the contest is M arch 31. T he contest is open to everyone and entry is FREE. Y ou can visit their w ebsite at wwwjjKlkUSJiim- Artists rendering. Independent Thinkers Essay Contest B arn es & N o b le in p artn e rsh ip w ith M ercury Sable is pleased to bring you “T h e Independent T hinkers series”, a selection o f books celebrating unique points o f view . In conjunction w ith the series, w e ’ve created an “ Independent T hinkers Essay C o n test’. T ell us in 250 w ords or less, w hy you think one o f the books in the series w as chosen and you could w in prizes including $25,000 in cash or a 2000 M ercury Sable and, if you are a high school student, scholarships and a m atching grant and a library o f Independent T hinker books for your school. Please visit the Independent T hinkers table inside any B arnes & N oble store for details about the contest and ask a bookseller about events related to these books. T he essay contest w ill be held through M arch 15. Call 503/ 283-2800 for m ore information. 3rd Annual Railroad Show at Powell’s P o w ell’s B ooks in B eaverton is hosting the 3rt A nnual Railroad Photography Show on Saturday, February 26 from 4 to 10 p.m. T his year’s show prom ises to be the biggest e v e r. R a ilr o a d in g e n th u s ia s ts from throughout the region m ake this an annual p ilgrim age w here photographers from th r o u g h o u t th e P a c ific N o rth w e s t show case their w ork. It’s not too late to sign up as a presentor. I f interested, contact D an H aneckow at P o w e ll’s Books in Beaverton, 643-3131. Grand Floral Parade Tickets are now available for the Portland R ose Festival G rand Floral P arade held on Saturday, June 10 at the M emorial Coliseum at 10 a.m. Prices are $23, $20 and $ 11.50 ( add $.50 for phone/intem et orders). Call R o seQ u arterT ick et O ffice at 227-2681 or any Ticketm aster. King neighborhood development nears completion T h e K ing N eighborhood A ssociation, D istrict 1 V ision C om m ittee will m eet betw een from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. February 7 at the Key Bank C om m unity Room, located in the W alnut P ark sho p p in g ce n te r on N o rtheast M artin L u th e r K ing Jr. to discuss and finalize a new com m ercial developm ent strategy. T he strategy will help shape and revitalize com m ercial developm ent in their district. For m ore inform ation about the meeting call Joan Brown-Kline 503-297-6569. < Piedm ont residents met the creators o f their future neighbors last w eek, the developers o f the R osem ont School property. A bout 40 people turned out to hear and q u e s tio n r e p r e s e n ta t iv e s o f W a lsh C onstruction C om pany, N orthw est H ousing A lternatives, H abitat for H um anity, A ndrew s and A nkrom M oisin architects discuss plans for redeveloping the 7.6 acre form er C atholic girls school at 597 N. D ekum St. (A nother partner, HOST Com m unity Development, was not represented.) T he Portland D evelopm ent C om m ission acquired the property in 1998, and agreed to sell it to W alsh. Piedm ont N eighborhood A ssociation representatives participated in creation o f the criteria and the final selection. T om W alsh said that the team had signed a M em orandum o f U nderstanding w ith PDC tw o days before the m eeting, and expected to com plete andsignadetailed, formal contract by the end o f Apri 1. They expect to begi n work on the historic V illa St. Rose convent bui lding by O ctober 2 and com plete it within a year, he said. C ynthia W inter, outgoing director o f Habitat, said her nonprofit organization hoped to begin w ork on five o f its houses by April 2. W ork on the rest o f the rest o f the project is slated to begin April 2001 follow ing installation o f new infrastructure, W alsh said. T he project has “continued to evolve” since the team submitted its proposal, architect M artha A ndrew s said. T he convent building, and a fo u r-sto ry ad d itio n , w ill now be occupied solely by 100 low -incom e senior housing units, w ith earlier plans for m arket rate loft housing dropped. T here will still be 18 row house units, som e rentals, and 51 single fam ily structures, w ith 1 Oeach built by H abitat and HOST, the rest by W alsh. The single fam ily hom es will be situated on North D ekum and Bryant streets and Congress A venue, w hile the higher density structures will be concentrated in the center o f the site. N ew extensionsofN orth Borthwickand Kerby avenues and Saratoga Street will be built into th e p ro p erty . T h ere w ill be co m m u n ity facilities, right now “the least defined part o f th e p lan ,” A n d rew s said, b ut in clu d in g p la y g ro u n d an d to t lot. F o rm er school buildings will be dem olished, but as m uch o f the m aterial as possible w ill be preserved for re-use. M uch w ith the discussion dealt w ith the construction process, w hich W alsh conceded w ould be "m essy.” D oing the earth-m oving w ork during w inter m onths should reduce the am ount o f dust generated he said. O ne neighbor, H illary Russell, asked, “ Will there be backhoes at w ork at 7 a.m .? How m uch sleep will I lose because o f this?” “V ery little,” W alsh said. W ork will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on an “aggressive but not Black History Month To celebrate the spirit and perseverence o f the people throughout history that have made the world today and contributes to tomorrow, The Portland Observer will be making a special commitment to highlighting them and their deeds in the month o f February. George Washington, a black pioneer who donated his land claim to Centralia Washington, is believed to have been the first person to build a house in that city. Please see The Focus for more moments in Black History. I (Please see 'H o u sin g ' p ag e 2) Using the web to build your business CONTRIBUTED STORY ior T hl P or r lax d Q bseryer D anielle Forsyth, C o-ow ner and President o f Crisis in Perspective (CIP), I n c. w i 11 be the presen ter at a w orkshop designed to aid business ow ners on how to use the w eb to increase the size o f their businesses. Forsyth w orks with M icrosoft and num erous internet, com m erce and g rap h ic co m p an ies d ev elo p in g technology and strategic plans and defining products for the web. Prior to co-founding CIP, Ms F o rs y th h e ld e n g in e e r in g , m a rk e tin g a n d m a n a g e m e n t positions at H ew lett-Packard and T ektronix. She has d eg rees in mathematics, com puter science and b u s in e s s . S h e s e rv e s on th e advisory boardso fD riv ew ay .co m , and internet storage com pany, and E lv is & B o n a p a r te , a h ig h technology branding firm. D anielle is heavily involved in P o rtla n d area c o m m u n ity d e v e lo p m e n t an d c h i l d r e n ’s activities. W hile the program is aim ed at the N orth/N ortheast, all are w elcom e. A continental breakfast w ill be avai lable and there is no charge for attendance. Date: Tuesday, February 15,2000; 7:30am to9:00am . Location: Billy Reed R estaurant 2808 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. For additional inform ation, please call Berta Delman. MLK Main Street manager, 284-3093. I