What is it?:
A collaborative effort by the Mt. Tabor and South Tabor Neighborhood Associations and the Atkinson Elementary School PTA to acquire and develop a former drug crime property into a vibrant and valuable community gathering place and service facility.


Where is it?:
5633 S.E. Division; across the street from Atkinson Elementary School and Franklin High School; and next to the Dairy Queen.


History:
Community members have been concerned for many years about recurring criminal activity on the property, especially given its close proximity to Atkinson Elementary School. Former Atkinson principal John Withers and other community members long dreamed of acquiring the site and developing it into a community gathering place that would serve both the school and the surrounding neighborhood.

Realizing the dream became possible when Federal government agents seized the property after the owner was sentenced for illegally selling pseudo ephedrine to local methamphetamine labs. Community members have been working collaboratively with the U.S. Attorney’s office since 2003 to negotiate the transfer the property to community ownership.


Community Vision for the Site:
Our intention is to created a vibrant and active facility that brings together and serves parents, teachers, kids, neighbors and the full range of Atkinson families, including its low income and immigrant families. The site is intended to be a partnership between the school and the neighborhoods. The vision for the site includes:

• Community gathering place—e.g. a coffee house or coffee-house/grocery—with community information boards and events.
• Community and school activity space and meeting rooms.
• Affordable office incubator space and/or affordable housingon one or more upper floors.
• Showcase for innovative environmental design featureson a small commercial site, including stormwater management and “green” building techniques.

Current Atkinson Elementary School Principal Chris Gutierrez has identified a number of ways the facility could help meet the needs of the Atkinson community, including:

• Expand existing adult English as a Second Language trainingfor Atkinson parents, many of whom speak Spanish, Vietnamese, Cantonese, and other languages. Trainings could be offered in the morning right after parents drop off their children.
• Adult Spanishtraining for English-speaking parents with children in Atkinson’s Spanish Immersion Program.
• Gathering and meeting spacefor the PTA, school volunteer groups, and school orientations.
• Computers and wireless connection. (Free Geek has offered to provide computers for free and to set up a secure wireless connection to the school district computer server and all its multi-lingual literacy materials.)
• Space for confidential meetings. Currently, when public agency representatives need to talk with a student and parents they have no place to go in the school building to have a confidential conversation. These meetings could take place in meeting rooms at the coffee facility.
• Space to expand Atkinson’s community lending library of children’s books and the school’s home “garden swap” produce exchange program.
• Redesign of the now-dangerous school crossingacross Division St. The Portland Office of Transportation has offered to examine ways to reengineer the crossing to increase safety for kids and adults crossing to and from the school

We’ve also been in contact with a new non-profit called Café au Play which is seeking a site to operate a coffee shop that welcomes single moms and kids and offers them an array of information, classes, and support services.


Community Input Opportunities:
A broad steering committee with school and community members is guiding the project. The steering committee maintains and communicates with an extensive list of people interested in the site.

On November 16, 2004, over 70 people attended a community meeting and helped identify the key elements of the community vision for the site. The steering committee currently is working with Greenworks, a local environmental design firm, the city’s Bureau of Environmental Services, and a team of PSU students to facilitate a community design workshop on April 16, 2005. Community members will be able to consider and offer specific design ideas for environmental features on the site: e.g. pervious surfaces, stormwater run-off management, eco-roofs, bioswales, garden space, etc.


Who Will Own the Site?:
Southeast Uplift (the neighborhood coalition office for the 20 neighborhoods of inner southeast Portland) has agreed to take temporary ownership of the site on behalf of the PTA and neighborhood associations, if adequate liability insurance coverage can be obtained. Future community ownership is likely to be through an existing or a new community land trust.


Three Phases of the Project:

Site Acquisition:
The Steering Committee is working with U.S. Attorney’s office and Multnomah County Sheriff to transfer the property through the federal Weed and Seed Program. The City of Portland has offered to waive $10,000 in unpaid code enforcement liens. We also are seeking a waiver or reduction of the $20,000 in unpaid back property taxes on the site. A broad coalition of school and neighborhood community members has been mobilized to raise the needed funds for the acquisition and initial holding costs.

Environmental Cleanup:
The property may involve up to four potentially leaking underground fuel tanks from a former gas station operation. Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments (by the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services) identified a possible $200,000 worth of needed cleanup work. We are working with the BES Brownfield Program Coordinator and a team of PSU students to develop a cleanup and funding strategy. The Oregon State Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is helping us develop a “Prospective Purchaser Agreement” that will establish our cleanup and funding plan and limit our future liability for the existing contamination. The Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD) has offered a $50,000 matching grant to help pay for the cleanup. We plan also to apply for a $200,000 EPA cleanup grant and are working with an insurance archeologist who has identified historical insurance coverage on the site that could provide additional resources for the cleanup.

Site Development:
We plan to hire a consultant to help us develop a Request for Proposals (RFP) that describes the community vision for the site and invites private developers and Community Development Corporations to submit proposals for how best to achieve and sustain the community vision for the site. We are applying for a Meyer Memorial Trust planning grant to develop a formal business plan, the RFP, and a long-range capital fundraising plan.


Formal statements of Support:
Mt. Tabor, South Tabor, and Richmond Neighborhood Associations, Atkinson Elementary School PTA, Hosford/Abernathy Neighborhood Development, Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Program, Inc., Division Vision Coalition Steering Committee members. Multnomah County Commissioner Lisa Naito.

Contact for More Information: Paul Leistner, 503-232-3888, paul.leistner@mttaborpdx.org.