September 12, 2018
Page 7
Members of the Hill Block Project Working Group. The community-led team signed a memorandum of understanding last week to include Mayor Ted
Wheeler, officials from Prosper Portland, the city’s economic development agency, and Legacy Health to guide the re-development of a long vacant
block of property on North Russell Street next to the Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.
Hill Block Agreement Signed
Community gets
say on plans for
vacant site
l a k eitha e lliott
b ryson d avis
On Wednesday, Sept. 5, as co-chairs of
the Hill Block Project Working Group, we
signed a memorandum of understanding
with Mayor Ted Wheeler, Kimberly Bra-
nam of Prosper Portland, Kathryn Correia
of Legacy Health, Shannon Callahan of the
Portland Housing Bureau and Dr. Steven
Holt, our group facilitator, which outlines
our respective commitments and respon-
sibilities related to the potential develop-
ment of the Hill Block, a 1.7-acre block
bordered by Vancouver Avenue, Williams
Avenue, Knott Street and Russell Street.
This community-led process began
more than a year ago to identify how the
Hill Block could be transformed from a
vacant lot into a neighborhood asset. The
Project Working Group formed through
by
and
the collaboration of many organizations
and community groups within or with a
strong connection to the North/Northeast
community. We’ve established a char-
ter to guide our work. We’ve conducted
public meetings and listening sessions to
hear what community members had to say
about how a development process would
evolve.
Your community voices are so import-
ant – we have been grateful for the par-
ticipation of so many people with ties to
the property and the neighborhood, who
shared their attachment to the site and its
history and their interest in being involved
in what comes next.
We each have our own connections to
the property.
LaKeitha, a fourth-generation Orego-
nian with deep ties to Portland’s black
community, got involved because mem-
bers of her family were among the dis-
placed decades ago. She’s worked for lo-
cal black-led organizations including the
Urban League of Portland and Portland
African American Leadership Forum and
advocated for the return of the property for
community benefit. Her hope is that the
site will become a place where her grand-
children can be involved and engaged.
Bryson has been in the community for
more than a decade. In addition to his com-
mitment to the Project Working Group, he
volunteers as an attorney coach with Jef-
ferson High School’s mock trial team. He
also supports local businesses as a board
member of the Soul District Business As-
sociation, the local business association
for N/NE Portland, and as the board chair
of Ascent Funding, a community devel-
opment financial institution focused on
helping local black businesses weather the
recession. He sees our work representing a
shift in focus from equality to equity and is
excited to be a part of that shift and lay the
groundwork for projects to come.
We’ve come together to take on this task
collectively and deliver a project that mat-
ters to our community.
The signing on Sept. 5 marks a mile-
stone, one that keeps us moving forward
with clear intentions and understanding
of what each partner will bring to the pro-
cess. While the project funding details are
far from established, we want to point out
that the memorandum of understanding
calls for Legacy Health, the current prop-
erty owner, to “convey the Hill Block for
no consideration to the body selected by
the Project Working Group to implement
a project that supports and honors Port-
land’s African-American community, a
priority of the Legacy Health Board.” This
means that the Project Working Group and
the community will decide what neigh-
borhood-serving projects rise from this
long-vacant land.
The community has been asked to
take the lead, and we’ll continue to look
for and provide ways for your voice to
matter. Please follow the work online at
www.prosperportland.us/HillBlock, join
us at the PWG meetings held at New
Song Community Church each month;
or reach out to any of the PWG members
(they are listed on the above weblink). We
can write a new chapter in the story of this
neighborhood, one that acknowledges the
past, charts a path forward and makes it
clear what’s possible when we come to-
gether.