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August, 2008 -- Vol. 102, No. 12
Memories of THE BEE's first one hundred years!
We offer, just below, a special four-page retrospective of Inner Southeast Portland's century, written by Eileen Fitzsimons, drawn from the pages of THE BEE over the previous 100 years. It appeared in our September, 2006, issue. Click on each of the links just below, to open or download the four pages (as large PDF documents) of this once-in-a-century special section!
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THE BEE has developed a new website, in partnership with the other newspapers of our group, and we invite you to visit it and try it out. Your feedback is appreciated; we want to make it user-friendly to you! Click the green logo at right and take a tour! The news content is the same as on this website. Let us know what you think! | |
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| Greg Peden tells a Woodstock audience of Rotarians why the plans of Portland Timbers owner, Merritt Paulson, to gain a Major League Soccer franchise here could result in his AAA baseball team, the Portland Beavers, moving to a new baseball stadium in Lents. (Photo by David F. Ashton) |
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Will the Portland Beavers find a home on Holgate Blvd…?
By DAVID F. ASHTON
for THE BEE
In the not-too-distant future, when you hear the umpire cry, “Play ball!” followed by the crack of a bat, in Southeast Portland – it may not just be city league teams playing at Charles Walker Stadium in Lents Park on S.E. 92nd Avenue at Holgate Boulevard – it could actually be Portland’s AAA minor-league Portland Beavers!
That’s the picture painted by Greg Peden, of Gallatin Public Affairs, who represents Henry Merritt Paulson III – owner of the Portland Timbers soccer team as well as the Portland Beavers baseball team – both of them minor league teams. Peden spoke at the Southeast Portland Club Rotary meeting in Woodstock on Monday, July 14th.
The owner of the two teams is the son of Henry Paulson, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury; he moved here in 2006 to buy and operate the Beavers and the Portland Timbers. Now he has a grander view.
Paulson plans to bring Major League Soccer to Portland within the next two years, Peden revealed. “Major League Soccer (MLS) currently has 16 teams around the country, and is expanding to 18. Professional Soccer is booming in the U.S. right now – both Philadelphia and Seattle have acquired teams in the last 12 months. Seattle sold 12,000 season tickets within six months of acquiring their team.”
If Paulson gets the franchise, MLS would require upgrades to PGE Park, Peden told the group – and those upgrades would require the Beavers baseball team to find a new home. Because of seating changes, PGE Park would become a soccer-specific stadium, making it impossible to share the venue with the baseball team, although PSU Vikings football could and would still take place there.
“We have identified two locations in the city that would work for a new minor league baseball stadium with about 8,000 seats,” revealed Peden.
One proposed location is Port of Portland’s “Terminal 1”, off Naito Parkway on the west side of the Willamette River. No longer a freight facility, it’s currently being used by the City as an industrial staging area for the Big Pipe program.
“Overlooking the Willamette River, that could be an attractive location,” Peden said. “However, it is an industrial area, and there are transportation access issues.”
Top choice: Lents Park
The ball club’s ideal location for a new stadium would be the northeast corner of Lents Park, only minutes from all of Inner Southeast Portland.
“To put it into perspective, Charles Walker Stadium [now on the site] has a capacity of 1,000 fans,” Peden explained. “We propose building a stadium with seating for 8,000 to 9,000 people. That may seem large, but it’s much smaller than Seattle’s Safeco Field, where the Mariners offer 40,000 seats, and smaller than PGE Park downtown.”
The ball club’s spokesman added there are challenges at Lents Park – namely, finding room for 1,500 on-site parking spaces. However, with the new MAX light rail station mere blocks away, access may not be a major issue, and the team would explore an arrangement to use some parking spaces at nearby Eastport Plaza.
“The park would have a positive economic impact on the area,” Peden continued. “If we we were to find that the majority of people in the Lents community were opposed to the idea, we wouldn’t try to shoe-horn it in. But so far, the response has been very positive.”
The Lents Neighborhood Association hasn’t yet taken a stand, said its Chair, Dewey Akers. “We’re forming a committee to discuss the issue.”
But long-time Lents-area booster, and President of the 82nd Avenue of Roses Business Association, Ken Turner, personally endorses the idea.
“Aside from my life-long passion for baseball,” Turner said, “I see the possibility of the Portland Beavers coming into the area as a positive move for redevelopment.”
Turner added that while a baseball team cannot be considered a keystone for redevelopment, he believes it would bring positive improvements to Lents by showcasing the area as a good, family-oriented neighborhood.
“I see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Lents to gain a major attraction. There’s a lot to be discussed; but this is an opportunity – and regardless of the outcome, it should be pursued.”
Hinges on obtaining soccer franchise
Whether or not the Portland Beavers will move anywhere is contingent upon Major League Soccer approving Paulson’s application for a franchise.
“We’re looking at a three-month timeline for approval,” Peden said. “There is competition from owners in other cities for a major league soccer team.” If there is no major league soccer franchise here, then the Beavers would stay put in PGE Park.
Obtaining the MLS franchise would cost $40 million dollars, all of which Paulson is prepared to pay. But he would require some public assistance with the stadium.
At that point, it would be up to the sports team owner to convince members of the Portland City Council that there is a sufficient public benefit to make participating in the investment to improve PGE Park – as well as to build a new, larger stadium at Lents Park – worthwhile.
Metro Council gives final land-use approval for S.E. light rail project
On Thursday, July 24th, the Metro Council unanimously approved two decisions intended to make way for more detailed engineering work and environmental analysis on the Portland-Milwaukie segment of the “South Corridor Light Rail Project”.
The Council approved the Land Use Final Order, which finalizes light rail routes, station locations, and park-and-ride facilities. Additionally, its approval of the “Locally Preferred Alternative” affirms intent finally to construct light rail in this transportation corridor.
The approval confirms the light rail route from the downtown Portland Transit Mall into South Waterfront, across the Willamette River, through southeast Portland and into Milwaukie and north Clackamas County. It also identifies stations and park and rides along the route. A Metro spokesperson commented, “The project will provide reliable transit options and enhance the regional light rail system.”
The long-delayed Inner Southeast light rail project will initially consist of a 7.4-mile run of track, originating in downtown Portland and ending just south of Milwaukie at Oak Grove.
Specifically, the new line will run between S.W. 4th and 5th Avenues near Portland State
University in Portland, and Park Avenue in Oak Grove, and will follow the Tillamook
Branch railroad alignment in the North Milwaukie Industrial area through downtown
Milwaukie.
The project includes a Willamette River crossing between S.W. Mead and S.W. Porter Streets to an eastern landing near S.E. Sherman Street, just south of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). The bridge will carry light rail, busses, and any future Portland Streetcar route, and includes a 12-foot pathway for cyclists and pedestrians.
“This light rail line will provide numerous benefits,” said Metro Councilor Robert Liberty, who represents Inner Southeast Portland. “More than 22,000 households or 50,000 people live within walking distance of the stations, 14,000 riders per day will have a less time-consuming commute, and drivers on the Ross Island Bridge will see less congestion, because busses will be diverted to the new structure.”
Though the specific light rail stations on the line are yet to be finalized, it includes up to eleven stops. Stations will likely be located in the area of S.W. Lincoln Street and S.W. Harbor Drive; in the South Waterfront development; at OMSI; at S.E. Clinton Street; S.E. Rhine Street; S.E. Holgate Boulevard; S.E. Bybee Boulevard; S.E. Tacoma Street; Lake Road in downtown Milwaukie; and at the line’s terminus at Park Avenue in Oak Grove.
Some controversy and much local support centered on the longest gap between the stations on the line – between Holgate and Bybee Boulevards – where planning in the early 1990’s had indicated a station would be sited to serve the north end of Westmoreland. Although considerable local interest revived what is now proposed as a Harold Street station, with positive support from the Citizens Advisory Committee, the Sellwood-Moreland Improvement League (SMILE), and Reed College, the Harold Street proposal was thought by Metro and Tri-Met to be too costly to include in the initial construction plans.
Due to the prediction of a computer model, there also was concern that the one-minute delay to the transit time of trains occasioned by stopping at Harold Street could discourage Clackamas County riders from using the service.
However, the plan adopted by Metro includes an official plan for “a future station at Harold Street on McLoughlin Boulevard”, which reportedly will mean that the tracks will be constructed south of S.E. Harold on the east side of McLoughlin Boulevard in such a way as to have the necessary spacing and configuration to allow construction of a future station there.
The Metro Council vote follows approvals from Clackamas and Multnomah counties, the cities of Portland, Milwaukie, and Oregon City, and the Oregon Department of Transportation.
The line is expected to cost between $1.25 and $1.4 billion. Funding will come from the Federal Transit Administration, lottery-backed bonds approved by the Oregon legislature, and local shares, with contributions from Metro, Tri-Met, Clackamas County, and the cities of Portland and Milwaukie.
Metro is leading the Portland-Milwaukie project in partnership with Tri-Met, the Oregon Department of Transportation the cities of Milwaukie, Portland, and Oregon City, and Clackamas and Multnomah Counties.
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| Condo owner Sharon Slayton says she’s concerned the Sellwood Pump Station may be built just outside her bedroom window – and bring with it vibration and the stench of sewage. (Photo by David F. Ashton) |
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Sewer pump station site decision troubles nearby Sellwood residents
By DAVID F. ASHTON
for THE BEE
It seems like everyone in southwestern Sellwood agrees that the City needs to meet a state-mandated deadline of 2011 to curb Combined Sewer Outfall – raw, untreated sewage flowing into the Willamette River at Outfall 27, located just south of the Sellwood Bridge.
Furthermore, neighbors understand the “Sellwood Reliever” project will use the abandoned Lents Trunk Sewer under SE Harney Street as a 2.5 million gallon wastewater storage tank in rainy weather; and a pump station will need to run to accomplish the storage instead of dumping sewage into the river. But at that point the agreement ends.
On July 17, the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) sent a letter to neighbors on the riverbank south of the Sellwood Bridge stating that it “is moving forward with preliminary design of the Sellwood Pump Station to be located in the Sherrett Street right-of way, and on Portland Rowing Club property [known as Site 4]. Pump station construction will begin in late 2009 or early 2010.”
Neighbors living west on S.E. 7th Avenue have told planners they’re concerned that views from their porches and decks will be obstructed. Some are also worried about the architectural design of the pump station buildings.
But Sharon Slayton, a resident and board member of Waverly Landing Condominiums, says, “We do care about the look of the buildings, but we are confident that the city will do their best to make them as attractive as possible. Our concern is with their placement.”
To better understand the concern of these property owners, we met with Slayton and Mike Shangle, the condominium association’s president, and toured the condo development.
Slayton asks us to step into the bedroom of her newly-built condominium and look eastward out the window. We see a park-like setting, with tall fir trees to the north.
“This is Site #4,” Slayton states. “From here, one can see why we’re worried about smells, noise, and vibrations that might come from the pump station when it operates.”
And, we’re reminded, that would be after two years of heavy construction on the site.
Says city is making a mistake
Asked by THE BEE to succinctly state association’s concerns, Shangle says, “We agree sewage can’t continue to be dumped into the river; and we agree that there has to be a sewer pump station.
“We just think that the city is making a mistake in placing it as close to our condominiums as they’re proposing to do. In addition to odors and vibration – there’s a potential decrease in our property values, because of the proximity of the pump station to the condominiums.”
Slayton says the association wasn’t notified about the project in a timely way. “We were not involved in any of the preliminary neighborhood meetings. By the time they finally notified us that the pump station might be located near us, it seems like the [site selection] decision had already been made. Other neighbors were either notified, or found out about the project, and they involved themselves.”
We put the question of notification to David Allred, the BES Community Outreach coordinator.
“Notification is a process that evolves over time,” responds Allred. “We sent notifications to those we thought were the correct people to notify, but in some instances, the mail was returned. We corrected that as quickly as possible. [Waverley Landing Condos] were represented at the May 14 meeting.”
We asked him if the site was a “done deal” before that public meeting.
“At that meeting,” Allred said, “Site 4 was presented as the preferred alternative. We hadn’t yet completed our analysis.”
Building in a right-of-way
At the May 14 meeting, we recalled the BES officials were questioned regarding their ability to build a permanent facility, such as a sewer pump station, on a right-of-way.
In a recent conversation, we again asked Allred about this issue. “We believe it can be built in the right-of-way. We haven’t been told it can not – and believe at least part of the project can be built there. We don’t have a final site plan yet.”
Having learned that Waverly Landing has retained a prominent land use consultant, Peter Finley Fry, we quizzed Fry on the issue.
“An attorney is looking into that issue,” stated Fry. “On a right-of-way, they can put in utility boxes, lighting, and build water and sewer lines under the street. But a right-of-way means a person can walk or drive down the street.”
Then Fry said he suspects that the City wants to take the path of least resistance. “If they can build in a right-of-way, without having to move the pump station to the north [to Site #3] and deal with condemnation [of Portland Rowing Club property], that’s a preferred alternative.”
However, Fry added about using Site #4, “I’m upset about the concept of them cutting those trees down, putting in a building, and blocking public access to the riverfront. I think that’s wrong.”
To this, the BES’s Allred responded, “One of the factors in site selection is ‘ease of acquisition’. It is a common-sense policy.”
Sharon Slayton has asserted in conversation with THE BEE that the selection of site #4, potently nestling the pump station almost against the condo’s buildings and garage, violates the location criterion she says is posted on the BES website.
“It says the pump station should be as close as possible to the end of the Lents Trunk Line,” Slayton commented. “Site #3 is actually closer, although it is on Portland Rowing Club property.”
Allred responded, “The technical analysis was only one of many factors we took into account. Weighting all the factors, Site #3 did not turn out to be the best site – by far. There are concerns about the topography; it is more difficult site on which to build.”
Regarding the tall fir trees in the right-of-way, Allred adds, “It is a concern to preserve natural resources. We believe we it can built without removing many of the trees – maybe none of them.”
Portland Rowing Club chimes in
Because at least part of the pump station will be built on Portland Rowing Club (PRC) property, we spoke with their association’s Commodore, Tim Cheadle.
“We don’t want sewage dumped into the river, and we’re looking for what is best for our neighborhood,” Cheadle began.
Asked why PRC objected strongly to the selection of Site #3 in that case, Cheadle responded, “We’ve had drawings and plans for potential development on our property for decades here. Condo complexes have sprung up all around us; we’re a ‘natural gap’ along the riverfront. It is a priority to our membership to keep this space open. If our primary concern were a monetary return, we would have developed it long ago.”
He added that PRC members prefer the pump station not be built on their property. “It looks inevitable that they’ll use the Sherrett Street right-of-way, Cheadle conceded. “So, it’s our priority to see that it is built in such a way as to preserve the area’s livability. It’s still in the early stages. We’re trying to ask the important questions of the BES now, instead of later.”
Community Advisory Group meets
As recently as July 22nd, members of a Community Advisory Group informally met with BES representatives regarding the project.
“They presented three possible configurations of the pump station and its auxiliary buildings,” Slayton informs us. “One of the configurations would be almost completely within our ‘back yard’.”
Slayton said she was surprised to learn that the Outfall 27 Control Structure would be built below ground level, the top of which will be a concrete pad.
“The other surprise,” Slayton noted, “concerned that bio-filter: It looks like an area topped with gravel. If fumes will percolate up through this filter and into the air, it doesn’t appeal to me.”
Allred commented to THE BEE, “There isn’t a footprint place yet. There are delegates representing all of the neighbors on the advisory committee. All of us are involved in the process of working on this project.”
And there, as July ended, the matter at least temporarily stood.
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| A chipped spot on the Sellwood Bridge exposes the structural rebar underneath. The epoxy sealing to be done on the bridge in August, during five overnight repair periods, is intended to seal off such exposed rebar, and also to seal cracks through which water might seep to rust internal rebar. (Photo by David F. Ashton) |
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Sellwood Bridge to close for repairs on six August weeknights
Multnomah County Spokesman Mike Pullen reveals to THE BEE that six overnight closures of the Sellwood Bridge, and one night with lane closures, will be required this month for scheduled repairs. The repairs consist of filling concrete cracks to prevent steel corrosion and further cracking.
The work is expected to begin on August 8, 11, and 12, with prep work on the west-end approach on Highway 43. On Thursday night, August 14th, there will be lane closures on Highway 43 from 8 am till 5 pm for surface preparation work, but the neither the bridge nor the highway will be completely closed on this particular night.
Then come the six complete bridge closures. The tentative schedule:
On Friday night, August 15, the bridge will be closed 8 pm till 5 am for epoxy injection repairs on spans #25 and 26 at the east end. There will be no work on the weekend, but on Monday night, August 18th, the east-end repairs will continue with a second closure 6 pm till 5 am to complete that part of the epoxy work, from span #22 to 27.
Epoxy injection repairs start near the west end, on spans #3-11, the following night, and the bridge will experience 6 pm till 5 am overnight closures on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights of that week, ending – if all goes well – at 5 am on Saturday morning, August 23rd.
The work on the nights of August 21 and 22 is conditioned on the availability of specialized equipment. Michael Eaton, of Multnomah County, says, “the work is dependent on the availability of the Under Bridge Inspection Trailer (UBIT) equipment being locally available. These uncommon pieces of equipment are sometimes moved up and down the west coast.”
So, if that equipment is not on hand at the right time, the last two nights of work would be postponed until it is.
During the overnights in which the bridge is closed, the nearest alternate river crossing will be, as always, the Ross Island Bridge.
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| The newly-painted street design at Sellwood’s “Share-It Square”, at S.E. 9th and Sherrett Streets, features a chicken, an egg, seasons, wedding rings, and phases of the moon. (Photo by Rita A. Leonard) |
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New street design painted at Sellwood’s celebrated Sherrett Square
By RITA A. LEONARD
for THE BEE
With the coming of summer, a new street painting has been completed at “Share-It Square”, the colorful and award-winning intersection of S.E. 9th and Sherrett Streets in Sellwood. The new artwork was completed during the 12th annual community painting event.
Throughout the day, nearly 150 children and adults participated under the leadership of Matt and Lisa, residents on the northwest corner lot – with the big garden and cob playhouse. Friends came from as far away as Hollywood, California, and Vancouver, British Columbia, and as part of the project, the new Miller Paint store at S.E. 17th and Tacoma donated some of the colorful, durable traffic-marking paint.
Before starting, the neighbors around the intersection brainstormed ideas for a new design vision. These included current interests of raising chickens, hosting weddings, and appreciating the seasons. Pedro Ferbel-Azcarate noted that, last year, two weddings were performed at Sherrett Square. This year, several neighbors plan to start raising chickens, and the “cob” structures at the site have always involved neighborhood participation. “It’s a way to help empower our kids by involving them in building structures out of earth using their hands and their own creative ideas,” he said. “During our design meetings there were a lot of great ideas from the kids.”
Twelve-year-old Elizabeth and her sister Maya, 11, were the first to arrive to paint. “This is my sixth year here,” announced Elizabeth proudly. Two other friends, Keely, 11, and her sister Eliza, 7, also participated in event planning. A highlight of the celebration was the grand reopening of Sherrett Square’s "Bombay Café”, with the kids’ playhouse transformed into a full-service café serving strawberry shortcake and Keely’s famous veggie sandwiches, along with lemonade, coffee, tea, and “Sherrett-Cola and Sherrett-Up”, sweetened with the herb stevia.
“The most fun thing was minding the store and cafe,” said Keely, whose sandwiches were a hit with hungry workers. “We made them out of hummus, avocado, sprouts, tomato, and Havarti cheese, with sourdough and Dave’s Killer Bread,” she added. There was also an appearance by the “Portland/Iraqi Solidarity Committee”, which provided Turkish-style coffee and educational information about women in Iraq.
The new street painting is a colorful, swirling design that features a chicken, a nest with egg, wedding rings, and four phases of the moon with stars. Wide white stripes radiate partway down each street to set off the central design. “Cob” structures on each corner include a library cabinet, tea station, “Share-It” corner with BEE news station, and an open-air playhouse with information station.
Visitors report themselves charmed by this vibrant Community Demonstration Project.
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| Firefighters were dwarfed by the tall columns of smoke, when the same grassy area at the north end of Oaks Bottom was burned off just one year ago. The “prescribed burn” is monitored and controlled for the Parks Bureau by members of the Portland Fire Bureau. (Photo by David F. Ashton) |
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Another “planned fire” in Oaks Bottom’s northern grassland
The Portland Parks Bureau has revealed that it plans another “prescribed burn” at the northern end of Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge on Thursday, August 28th, weather permitting.
The purpose of the latest grasslands burn in Oaks Bottom is to reduce flammable vegetation, including reed canarygrass, as well as other invasive species which have taken over these areas, and to prepare the site for seeding with native grasses and perennials that the Parks Bureau assures will, in time, result in grassland with higher habitat values.
The burn will take place within a defined area, and under the supervision of the Portland Fire Bureau. It will be completed quickly, the Parks Department promises, but mop up will last an additional 1-3 hours, and monitoring will continue for approximately 24 hours. Smoke will briefly be visible from some distance, when the fire is touched off.
The area was last burned off on August 11th of last year. This “prescribed burn” is part of the Portland Wildfire Fuel Reduction Project.
For more information call 503/823-6736 or visit the Internet website: www.portlandonline.com/wildfire.
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| A BASEBALL TEAM OF DISTINCTION. BEE reader and team co-coach Marc Stromvig advises that the Sellwood Storm “Midget American League” baseball team, shown above, took first place in Clackamas County Junior Baseball tournament in July, and received a “number 1” seed into the Junior Baseball of Oregon's Midget American League Championship. The Storm ran into very stiff competition at State and placed 5th. But 5th out of 138 teams in midget American Junior Baseball of Oregon is still mighty impressive. The team’s season record was 32-4-1. The team is also coached by Vic Rust, with assistant coach Ryan Ishimaru (shown in rear). The players are shown, with their Clackamas trophy, in Woodburn: Mitch Bolster, Taylor Griffin. Duncan Hildreth, Devin Ishimaru, Peter Johnson, Jack Kelly, Drew Niman, Riley Oh, Ronnie Rust, Riley Stromvig, and Jamison White. Batboy is Micah Stromvig. (Photo by Garth Griffin) |
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