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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2018)
December 5, 2018 Page 3 INSIDE The Week in Review C ALENDAR This page Sponsored by: page 2 page 7 An artists’ rendering of a Major League Baseball stadium that’s envisioned to rise from the Port of Portland’s Terminal 2 property, about 45 acres of riverfront property north of the Pearl District on Northwest Front Avenue. Promoters announced last week that they have an agreement with the Port to develop the property. Stadium Envisioned Riverfront site gets backing from Port of Portland Arts & ENTERTAINMENT pages 8-11 Portland Diamond Project, the organization behind an effort to bring Major League Baseball to Portland, announced Thursday it has signed an agreement in prin- ciple with the Port of Portland to develop the Port’s 45-acre Termi- nal 2 property in northwest Port- land for a new stadium, “We believe this has the poten- tial to be a transformative land- mark project for this city,” said Craig Cheek, Portland Diamond Project founder and president. “Building an iconic, state-of-the- art ballpark along the Willamette River will catalyze economic development and capture great views of both the urban scale of the city and regional character of the Pacific Northwest.” This letter of intent with the Port kicks off a collaborative pro- cess with the City of Portland, and local communities, to create a Major League Baseball ball- park and community destination in hopes of luring a major league baseball franchise to the city. Cheek said the park would champion using locally sourced food and beverages, environmen- tally sustainable construction ma- terials and provide opportunities for small businesses to create “an atmosphere that celebrates diver- sity and inclusion and is welcom- ing to all Portlanders.” Terminal 2, which for decades handled commodities such as steel rail, bulk ores, and other oversized international cargo, offers approximately 45 acres of riverfront property with more than 2,000 linear feet of wa- terfront. The site is located on Northwest Front Avenue, just north of the Pearl District and rapidly evolving Slabtown. The Portland Diamond Proj- ect steered away from pursuing another centrally located prop- erty, the administration build- ing owned by Portland Public Schools north of the Rose Quar- ter. That clears the way for anoth- er group that has been eyeing the north Portland site for affordable housing, called Albina Vision Trust. Cheek added Terminal 2 is now the group’s “preferred location” for the stadium after spending a year analyzing multiple sites. School Policing Contract Draws Fire M ETRO O PINION C LASSIFIEDS page 9 pages 12-13 pages 14 A proposed contract would for- malize an arrangement between Portland Public Schools and Port- land Police Bureau to expand School Resource Officer (SRO) presence to five days a week, though the proposal has received mixed reactions from student groups. The current arrangement has one armed SRO overseeing each high school cluster, as available, except Mondays, at no cost to the district. The contract, which must be approved by both Portland Public School Board and Portland City Council, would cost the district $364,000 this fiscal year and $1.2 million each school year through mid-2023, the Portland Tribune reported. An initial vote by Portland Pub- lic Schools board was delayed last month when at least two students raised concerns about the pres- ence of SROs negatively impact- ing their learning environment, arguing they may disproportion- ately affect students of color and contribute to a punitive culture in schools. The school board is now plan- ning to vote and debate on the agreement set for a school board session on Dec. 11.