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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