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LEE PERLMAN
The MID-COUNTY MEMO
Publisher’s note: For your reading pleasure, we present Perlman’s Potpourri — a roundup of news items from the Gateway and Parkrose neighborhoods of mid-Multnomah County from veteran Beat Reporter Lee Perlman.
This month Perlman reports on East Portland Community Aquatic Center’s groundbreaking ceremony held last month — a dream for many since EPCC opened in 1998.
Next, he tells us about the recent round of design changes for the proposed Russellville III project on Southeast 103rd and East Burnside Street next to the MAX light rail.
His next item is also about the groundbreaking and new development of affordable housing units on Northeast 82nd Avenue and Broadway.
A report on the monthly Hazelwood Neighborhood Association meeting was next up on Perlman’s busy schedule. At this meeting the HNA wrestled TriMet to the ground over a dispute about the number of trees at the light rail stations undergoing construction adjacent to I-205.
In Perlman’s next item, we learn the wrangling over the makeup of the Public Advisory Group forming to determine the future look of Portland International Airport appears to be settled.
Ikea, the Swedish low-priced, international, utilitarian, home products mega store opens in Parkrose’s backyard at Cascade Station near Portland International Airport. Corporate stooges are elbowing to be first in line for first in the new store, getting them free Ikea goodie as I write this tome on July 23, two days before the grand opening.
Last, but certainly not least, Perlman reports on the 10th annual Rossi Farms Barn Bash.
Work commences on new swimming pools
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| Architect’s rendering of the new East Portland Aquatic Center. The new center will be built next to East Portland Community Center (also pictured). This view is looking southwest. |
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| At East Portland Community Center’s Fourth of July parade, more than 100 people participated in this fun annual event. |
| MEMO PHOTO: LEE PERLMAN |
The 24,000-square-foot addition on the backside of the East Portland Community Center, at 740 S.E. 106th Ave., will house two pools — a conventional lap pool for serious exercise buffs and a warm-water pool for seniors and young children. The new facility should be ready for use by the fall of 2008. It will be the third public pool in mid-Multnomah County, after the facilities in Parkrose and David Douglas high schools.
“This was a long time coming and very, very challenging,” PP&R Director Zari Santner said at a July 3 groundbreaking ceremony. The original budget for the East Portland Community Center addition was $5.5 million. Additional appropriations from the levy and the general fund brought the total to $8.2 million. However, Santner said, “We had no idea that we’d be going through a worldwide construction boom or that building in China would affect prices in Portland.” It was necessary for East Portlanders to lobby for an additional $200,000 for the project. “It’s been a long time coming, but you will get the pool you deserve.”
She gave credit to architects Richard Bosch and Kurt Schultz of SERA Architects for their work on the design. Bosch “believed in the project,” she said. “He heard the community and wanted to give them the project they wanted. He got them what Southwest and Mt. Scott-Arleta has — even better.”
East Portland Neighborhood Office Executive Director Richard Bixby commented, “The community center is a great asset to the people here, and the pool will add to that.”
Prior to the groundbreaking, the center hosted a children’s parade to Cherrywood Village and back that attracted about 100 youngsters with parents in tow, accompanied by a bagpiper and a four-piece band. Community center staff helped the children prepare with face painting and hat making, finding a practical use for a local daily newspaper.
Ikea opens at Cascade Station
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| New Ikea Store Manager Ken Bodeen addresses the media during Media Tour Day one week before the grand opening at Cascade Station, adjacent to Portland International Airport in Mid-county. |
| MEMO PHOTO: TIM CURRAN |
At a press preview Store Manager Ken Bodeen shared the Swedish-based company’s vision of “a better everyday life for the many” and “a shopping experience unlike anything else.”
If nothing else, that certainly would apply to the in-store café. The media feasted on a buffet of two preparations of herring, smoked salmon; shrimp, boiled potatoes and a dessert spread that would shame most bakeries in town. Lutefisk? Head Chef Teresa Terry said this Scandinavian specialty is generally prepared in the summer and served in winter. She is also working on a local food specialty to round out the menu.
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