April 09,2003_________________________________ (E lf e f l a r t l a n b ( D b s e r u e r
page
Two Groups Vie for Abandoned Masonic Temple
Proposals calls for
business park and
fitness facility or
music academy
by S ean P. N elson .
. T he P ortland O bserver
T w o local non-profit com m unity
o rg an izatio n s are co m p etin g to
. purchase a M asonic Tem ple located
. at 5308 N. C om m ercial from the
Portland Public School D istrict for
: $320,000.
.
Ethos, Inc. w ants to restore the
building and use it to provide m usic
education to financially disad v an
taged kids by turning the building
: into The O regon M usic A cadem y.
A nother group, the Entrepre-
. neurial C om m unity C ollective, or
' School o fC h am p io n s Foundation,
w ants to turn the build in g and
, grounds into a business park with
I a m ajor medical carrierservingasan
anchor.
Ethos Executive D irectorCharles
Lew is w as under the im pression
that his group had garnered su p
port for his proposal from the Port
land Public S chools Real Estate
Trust.
“O n W ednesday, Apri 19 w e w i 11
sign the contract. W e w ould have
2 w eeks to finalize building m ainte
nance issues and we w ould have
the deal closed by April 30," Lew is
said.
But the issue had not been d e
cided at press tim e for the Portland
O b serv er on T uesday.
"I think th a t’s o p tim istic,” said
PPS Public Information O fficer Lew
Frederick in response to Lew is a s
sertion. "T h ey m ay be signing
som ething but it’s not a contract
yet. At this point w e h av en ’t heard
an y th in g o fficial.”
The Portland School B oard will
ultim ately decid e the issue at a fu
ture m eeting, Frederick said.
The school district put the p ro p
erty up for sale w ith the priority
being given for "historic p reserv a
tion, support for the arts and n eig h
borhood and com m unity goals in
choosing a p urchaser.”
“ W hat it cam e dow n to w as that
photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Ethos, Inc. said all along that they Two non-profit community organizations are competing to take over the abandoned Masonic
w anted to restore and renovate the Temple next to Jefferson High School in north Portland. One proposal calls for a music program,
building. The other group it w anted the other a business park with fitness facility.
to tear it d o w n ," L ew is said.
ECC School ofC ham pions Foun-
dation Founder A lvin M anus dis
agreed.
“ W e have not m ade that d eter
m ination. W e w ould certainly like
to be able to save the building, but
it has got to be cost effective for
us," M anus said.
"W e w ant to turn the building
into a headquarters w hich w ill be
part o f an effort that will stim ulate
the econom ic and academ ic vitality
o f the com m unity that T hom as
Jefferso n H igh S chool serv es."
M anus said.
Included in the foundation pro
posal w ould be a m ajor m edical
carrier prom oting fitness for life and
sports m edicine program s, w hich
w ould work hand in hand with pro
gram s at Jefferson H igh School, he
said.
The M asonic L odge w as built in
1923. It w as dam aged by a fire in
19 8 1 and sold to the Portland Public
School District in 1987 for $80,000.
“The back co m e r w as burned.
The main issue is the bui Iding needs
seism ic repair to survive an earth
quake," Lew is said.
Plans Submitted for African American Museum
The D.C. Museum will open in 2011 as
a Smithsonian affiliate. It will include
many historical images and
rememberences such as those above.
(A P )— A presidential com m is-
sion subm itted plans to C ongress
last w eek for an A frican American
m useum on the N ational Mail in
W ashington. D.C.
The report clears the way m em
bers o f C ongress to introduce leg
islation to approve the site and the
initial m oney to build the 350,000
square foot m useum.
“The tim e is right. The tim e is
now ,” said Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga„
a longtim e civil rights activist who
has been fighting for more than a
decade to get the m useum.
“ U ntil we understand the full
A frican A m erican story, w e cannot
understand ourselves as a nation
and as a p eople," Lewis said.
The museum w as first authorized
in 1929. But plans never made it o ff
the ground, and the House and Sen
ate never approved funding.
Sen. Sam B row nback, R-Kan.,
w ho will co-sponsor the bill to cre
ate the m useum , said he has spoken
to leaders in both houses and be
lieves it can finally win approval.
“ I see this m useum as an integral
A c tre s s C ic e ly T y so n , w ho
served on the presidential com m is
sion, recalled visiting m useum s as
a child, but not one focused on
A frican A m erican history.
“ The young people today will
finally have the opportunity to visit
a national m useum that conveys to
them w ho they are, w hat they are,
and w hy they are,” T yson said.
She said the prom inent site, on
congressionally controlled land near
the Capitol Reflecting Pool, is fitting.
T he m useum site w as the place
w here black and w hite Civil W ar
veterans m arched together to cel
- US Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan
ebrate the 50th anniversary o f the
—
union victory.
part in the healing o f our n atio n ’s
The plan calls for the m useum to
racial w ounds," B row nback said.
affiliate with the S m ithsonian Insti
B row nback said he will w ork si tution.
m ultaneously to get both the site
It w ould open in 2011 and is
and the $225 m illion in initial fund expected at attract tw o m illion visi
ing approved.
tors a year.
/ see this
museum as an
integral part in
the healing o f our
nation’s racial
wounds.
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