September 27, 2017 The Skanner Page 3
News
cont’d from pg 1
“
Adams’ vision for the
project includes a public
memorial to the Great
Migration, the historical
term for the movement of
African Americans from
rural, Southern commu-
nities to urban commu-
nities in the North and
on the West coast. That
includes Portland, whose
Black population grew
tenfold during World
War II.
This is the first time that Af-
rican Americans have been
able to stop, turn around
and say, ‘We’re not going
anywhere. This is our home.
It belongs to us
cades,” Alexander said.
The project is ambi-
tious from a design per-
spective, and details on
the “how” are murky. But
organizers also want its
execution to be guided
by a different set of prin-
ciples than have guided
Portland’s urban devel-
opment in the past.
“It’s the ability to talk
and to think without be-
ing constrained by, ‘How
do we make the most
money?’”
Alexander
said.
‘This is our home’
“Time doesn’t stop.
We’ll continue to see
change. We can either
direct the change or wit-
ness it,” Alexander said.
“It goes without saying
there have been a num-
ber of times in the past,
particularly in Northeast
Portland, when the com-
munity has seen change
foisted upon it, and has
not felt very positively
engaged, respected or
treated.”
The construction of the
Veterans’ Memorial Col-
iseum and Moda Center
(originally known as the
Rose Quarter) is a case in
point. The arena opened
in 1960 and was part of a
series of “urban renew-
al” projects for which
hundreds of homes,
many occupied by Black
families, were razed.
Or as Adams puts it,
“We destroyed the homes
of Black veterans to put
up a monument to White
veterans.”
PPS
Adams’ family came to
Portland shortly before
World War II, and she’s
engaged with the project
out of a sense of obliga-
tion to that history.
“Our story is a story
of itinerancy. We were
brought on boats, and the
motion of the sea cast us
upon the eastern shore
of the United States. We
moved northward, and
east and westward volun-
tarily, on foot, by car, es-
caping violence. Then we
arrive in the city (of Port-
land) and a flood displac-
es us from our original
neighborhood here. Ur-
ban development pushes
us north and east,” she
said. “This is the first
time that African Amer-
icans have been able to
stop, turn around and
say, ‘We’re not going any-
where. This is our home.
It belongs to us.’”
What’s next?
One of the distinctions
between this vision and
a more traditional de-
velopment master plan
is that stakeholders en-
vision a different gov-
ernance structure. No
official organization has
been formed, but stake-
holders are mulling the
creation of a nonprofit
with guiding principles
that can carry develop-
ment into the future.
“We want the city to
come to the table as a
landowner, not as a regu-
latory authority,” Adams
said. She said Hales de-
liberately convened the
Seattle Rally to Save the ACA
About 50 people attended the “Kill the Bill (Again): Seattle Rally to Save the ACA” Sept. 25 across from the University of Washington
Medical Center. On Tuesday, Senate Republican leaders announced they would not take their latest “repeal and replace” bill to the floor
for lack of support.
IMAGE COURTESY OF HENNEBERY EDDY ARCHITECTS, INC.
sought to incorporate
arts in the design as well
as taking advantage of
access to the river. It in-
cludes a new street grid
that would build over
the Interstate-5. (Adams
and Alexander said they
are “agnostic” on the pro-
posed plan to widen the
freeway.)
“This is a vision that
will hopefully guide the
development over de-
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Albina
group outside
of the “sausage-
maker” of what
was then called
the
Portland
D evelopment
Commission,
which had been
accused of gen-
erating inequi-
ty in the past.
Vulcan leases
the property
under the Rose Drawings from Hennebery Eddy Architects, Inc. show a vision for Northeast
Quarter,
but Portland that is intentionally multiracial and inclusive of people of all income
owns the river levels.
front land, and
Portland Development which takes up a lot of
will soon renegotiate its Commission (now Pros- waterfront property in
lease with the city. That per Portland) called the Northeast Portland.
means next steps are Rose Quarter District
But, McCulloch said,
“murky,” Adams said. But Plan. The advisory group one big change can set off
murky, she added, is OK.
included
personnel a chain reaction.
The Albina Vision from Nike and the Trail
John Russell, who de-
group is not the only Blazers, and included a veloped PacWest Center
group to cast an eye to- plan to put a large run- and 200 Market and has
wards developing the ning track inside the served on numerous de-
Rose Quarter in recent Coliseum. That plan lan- sign commissions and
years. Last fall, The Or- guished, he said, because chaired the political
egonian reported that a Nike never pulled the committee of the Oregon
group of developers had trigger.
Business
Association,
“quietly pitched” a plan
“There’s been plan af- has spoken with Adams
to redevelop Memorial ter plan after plan for and Alexander about the
Coliseum, which is on this,” McCulloch said. Albina vision and is also
the National Historic “The problem is, archi- skeptical, given the com-
Registry and is in need tects can dream up all plexity of what the stake-
of repairs. Mayor Ted kinds of cool stuff and holder group has in mind.
Wheeler has sold the I-5 they can draw all kinds
But he noted that Paul
redevelopment plan as of cool stuff. That’s not Allen’s involvement in
an economic boon for a problem. Getting the the project is an encour-
communities of color.
political and econom- aging indicator. Allen
In 2012 Portland archi- ic forces to align, that’s was instrumental in the
tect and urban design- the problem.” One ma- redevelopment of South
er Michael McCulloch jor problem he foresees Lake Union in Seattle, an
created a plan for the is moving the railroad, area Russell describes as
a “jewel” which was pre-
viously downtrodden.
“Allen has some ex-
perience that gives me
some optimism that his
development company,
Vulcan, is willing and
has the knowledge to do
some dramatic things,”
Russell said.
Alexander and Adams
acknowledge the current
version of their plan is
light on specifics. But
they’re also in it for the
long haul – for the Port-
land of a few generations
from now.
“We’re impressing our
cultural values on our
economy. We’re saying
that our commonwealth
here is really, really im-
portant,” Adams said.
We don’t want to just
drive individual wealth
through a development
plan where people will
name buildings after
their English children’s
names. We’re not try-
ing to drive individual
wealth, although there
will be tons of contract-
ing opportunities and
tons of wealth-building
in this, what we’re re-
ally saying is we want
to build community up
here. We want to be in-
tentional about that.”
Melanie Sevcenko con-
tributed reporting to this
story.
cont’d from pg 1
Portland Public Schools eventually
agreed to open Tubman at the Eliot
Childhood Education Center.
For more than 20 years, the middle
school stood as a precedent for commu-
nity pushback against institutional rac-
ism within the school district.
In 2007, it was converted into the Har-
riet Tubman Young Women’s Leader-
ship Academy, as part of restructuring
Jefferson High School. Five years later,
the academy dissolved too.
At the time of its closure, the Orego-
nian reported that “Tubman was 58
percent minority with 66 percent of
its students on free or reduced-price
“
The district is mak-
ing social equity a
mathematical equa-
tion and it’s not
lunches.”
Now, Tubman might get a second
chance. In line with the city’s new pol-
icy of bringing Black families back to
the neighborhoods from which they
were ousted, PPS is proposing to re-
open Tubman Middle School.
Two new middle schools
The plan is part of a PPS board pro-
posal which suggests that the district
open two middle schools — Harriet
Tubman and Roseway Heights — in the
hopes of evening out the advantages
some students have over others, de-
pending on where they attend.
“The K-8 model implemented in the
middle of the last decade resulted in
under enrollment at the middle grade
level, and the K-8 schools struggled to
offer a rich curriculum of electives,”
said PPS in an emailed statement to The
Skanner.
In addition to establishing the middle
schools, the proposal includes plans
to convert several existing K-8 schools
into K-5 schools; among them, Boise-El-
iot/Humboldt, Irvington, Lee, MLK Jr.,
and Vestal.
See PPS on page 10
