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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2002)
September 25, 2002 Page A6 Columbia Villa Resurrection continued from Front Villa will be offered a spot among the 2,800 other public housing units in Multnomah county. Sec tion 8 vouchers will also be offered as an alternative to direct reloca tion. Surveyors went door to door last week to ask residents which part o f the city they would prefer to move to, how many rooms they would need and if they would be interested in returning to the Villa upon completion o f the project. Once relocation begins, Keating said residents will get lots o f one- on-one attention from mobility counselors and relocation service coordinators. S taff will fully ex plain all options available; help with transportation to view other housing sites; complete paperwork and make sure residents know the pros and cons o f public and subsi dized housing. Keating said all moving expenses will be paid for, and if residents are physically un able to pack their boxes, someone will be provided to assist. “We are really giving it a per sonal touch,” Keating said. “We want too know in our hearts that these people are making a well in formed decision, and once the Uhaul is packed up and the kids are in school, we plan to follow up on their progress for the next four years.” WHAT’S UNDERGROUND IS BAD Some residents don’t under stand the need for such an exten sive rebuild since Columbia Villa was recently remodeled a decade ago. Housing units were outfitted with weatherproof windows, fresh siding and new metal roofs. “ 1 don’t get it,” said Darnell Graves, a resident for 16 years. "They just built them all back up nice, and now they're going to tear them down.” But Keating said the most re cent renovations were less about cosmetic updates and more about the health and safety concerns o f residents. The building ’s60-year- old wood siding was painted with lead-based paint. Many units had asbestos problems and the older windows were less energy efficient. It simply w asn’t fair to let people live like that, Keating said. Now it seems major infrastruc ture problem s necessitate the demolition o f the entire Villa, he added. Even though the Housing Authority does everything it can to make the units livable, residents complain o f rats and insect infesta tions. Because o f old sewer and water lines, a clogged up toilet in one home can back up the entire mainline. “ W e’ve had to buy our own back-hoe,” Keating said. “ W hat’s underground is bad. Its all these things that you don’t see that are in constant need o f repair.” A GREAT VISION N eighbors outside the V illas are conflicted about the upcom ing changes. Som e fear that greater population density in side the Villa will affect surround ing crim e statistics and lead to traffic problem s on already nar row streets. O thers are opposed to adding m ore rentals in an area w here h alf the residents are rent ers already. Ionka M artin lives across the street from the W est end o f the Villa. She isn ’t excited about the dem olition and d o esn ’t plan on sta y in g in the n eig h b o rh o o d once the construction begins. “ I’m not going to be here once the mess starts,” Martin said. “Af ter everybody starts moving, I’m leaving too.” Loretta Taylor and son, Marcel, 10, are comfortable with the reconstruction project for the Colum bia Villa. Taylor is considering buying a home in the Villa once the project is completed. She thinks the plan for renovation is long overdue. “Finally, ” she said. “It took forever. " photo by M artin said she has alw ays enjoyed the cultural diversity o f C olum bia Villa. Her three ch il dren are exposed to black, white, A sian and Indian lifestyles each day w hen they play in a grassy ex p a n se ce n te re d b etw e en a handful o f units. H er daughter o n ce w itn essed a tra d itio n a l physically, emotionally and eco nom ically,” Keating said. “We aren’t going to save the world, but there is a great vision behind this plan.” The H ousing A uthority has selected Seattle-based M ithun Inc. and R obertson M errym an Barnes, A rchitects, o f Portland t r \ 1 r» o rl a t k i r m i or» xir*»rlrl«r»r» D avid P lechi ./T he P ortland O bserver c ir tn t l i a t s itili n u t I ’m not going to be here once the mess starts. After everybody starts moving, I ’m leaving too. - Ionka Martin, Columbia Villa resident Erma Badon is apprehensive about being relocated while the Villa undergoes reconstruction but has enjoyed her four years there. “I think it's good," she said, “ I'll probably move back." “ She was ju st am azed,” M ar tin said, “it’s a unique place.” K eating w ants to em phasize that the revitalization o f the V il las has nothing to do w ith any need to restructure the dem o graphics o f the com m unity. He thinks the residents have alw ays had a strong sense o f unity and with the new design, that com m unity will be better integrated into the surrounding Portsm outh neighborhood. “These people are isolated - the plan into action. A response from a com m unity advisory com m ittee and feedback from resi dent surveys w ill be used to fi nalize the drafts. The preliminary plans for redesign feature single- fam ily hom es, duplex units, two and three story tow nhouses in term ingled am ong parkblocks. Shelley M archesi, D irector o f C om m unications for HAP, d e clined to release the plans to the p ress. “ Its too soon to be specific,” M archesi said. “Lets ju st say we are really building a neighbor h o o d .” The central focus o f the new design will be a town square fea turing som e sm all retail estab lishments, offices for com munity service providers, a youth cen ter and possibly a residential care facility for the elderly. M archesi said som e m em bers o f the com m unity harbor a m isconception that the tow n square may turn into a strip mall. K eating assures that this is not the case. “ It’s going to be a place to get help with hom ework and a latte at the sam e tim e,” he said. “ R esi dents will be able to get some stam ps and a gallon o f m ilk but also, w orking parents can take ESL classes or get on a com puter and seek help looking for better jo b s .” Marchesi also hopes to con vince Tri-Met to connect a shuttle from the Vil la to the new 1 nterstate Max line. As for those roads that go in circles, they will be tom up when the housing is tom down. 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