The Halsey-Weidler corridor working group met several times in August to hammer out ideas for two grants they are seeking to improve the couplet that stretches from Northeast 102nd to 112th avenues on Northeast Halsey and Weidler streets.

The 15-member group composed of mostly local business and property owners also added its own finishing touches to the final design created for the corridor just in time for the architectural firm of Nevue Ngan Associates to turn in its final report to the Portland Development Commission at the end of August.

The working group is submitting two proposals for the PDC annual Community Livability Grant program, find a competitive grant available throughout the Gateway Regional Center URA. Any nonprofit or association in that area can apply for the grant which is $75, 000 for fiscal year 2014-2015.

The first proposal is for $25, clinic 000 to install 25 trashcans and 12 benches along the corridor. The second proposal asks for $50,000 to create a design to improve the east triangle of the corridor at Northeast 112th Avenue.

“We thought it best to submit that as a separate grant,” said Furniture Plus owner Nidal Kahl, co-chair of the working group, referring to the east triangle application. “With so much detail surrounding that east triangle, rather than put together a design real quick, the grant money would be better spent on the design of the east triangle.”

Tom Badrick, chair of the Parkrose Heights Neighborhood Association and a member of the working group, volunteered to write both grant proposals. The application deadline is Sept. 26.

At its Aug. 20 meeting, the working group also discussed how to improve the west triangle at Northeast 102nd Avenue. Privately owned, the triangle contains a sign advertising the local Rotary Club. Ted Vogelpohl, the other co-chair of the working group, suggested approaching the owner of the property about creating a new design for the weathered sign. “It’ll say Rotary but it’ll also have Gateway’s identity,” Vogelpohl said.

The six-foot high sign might include names of local businesses that would sponsor it. “Everybody wants their logo on the sign,” Vogelpohl told the group. “It can’t cost that much if everybody chips in.”

The group also decided to stick with employing the traditional Gateway arch as the symbol for the area; however, after debating several locations where they might install the arch, they decided not to specify its final destination in their grant application.

An architectural rendering of final vision plan for the Northeast Halsey-Weidler couplet is pictured.