2800 NE 82nd – Montavilla News

Renewable energy specialists are installing a new solar panel array on the grassy, sloped southern edge of a former landfill along NE 82nd Avenue, now owned by Bird Alliance of Oregon. Once complete, the community solar array will reduce utility costs for 140 low-income Portlanders through a collaboration with APANO, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, and other partners. The new energy source at 2800 NE 82nd Avenue uses the site’s topography to receive year-round sun exposure while staying low to the ground, making the installation less visible, particularly as the nonprofit continues habitat restoration on its 12.49-acre property purchased in 2024.

A field with tall grass in the foreground, featuring solar panels in the background, surrounded by trees under a clear sky. — *_{Top edge of solar array on Bird Alliance 82nd Ave property extending just above grass}*

Crews have placed over half of the solar panels on a metal gridwork that supports them. Most people passing the site will not see all of the units, which sit a few feet above the ground, with views blocked by the adjacent People’s Courts pickleball facility. However, they will contribute 800 kW of renewable energy to the grid. The array operators expect credits from the electricity generated at the site to reduce participant low-income households’ energy bills by up to 40%. Portland Pacific Power customers who directly pay their own utility bill and earn up to 80% of Oregon’s Median Income can apply to APANO’s community solar project as a low-income subscriber and potentially receive credits on their utility bill. The organization describes community solar as a way for people historically left out of traditional solar to benefit without buying their own solar panels. APANO also has a Residential Rooftop Solar program that uses Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) money to install solar panels for homeowners. That program launched to serve 14 homes, while this latest effort should support 140 power ratepayers.

Solar panels installed on a hillside, surrounded by trees and a chain-link fence, with graffiti on a wall in the foreground. — *_{Solar array on Bird Alliance 82nd Ave property seen from NE Russell St}*

This new activity follows habitat restoration and the demolition of long-abandoned structures. For decades, this overgrown field was known for the graffiti-covered remnants of a golf driving range built on top of a landfilled quarry. For most passersby, all they observed was an abandoned building at 2806 NE 82nd Avenue, situated next to a tall, grassy field. Hidden inside the overgrown brush was the collapsing structure of a half-moon driving range. Several fires in the former “Pro Shop” administrative building on NE 82nd Avenue complicated its demolition. However, in September 2025, crews completed removing this site’s golfing past.

PCEF supported construction of this community solar array across NE 82nd Avenue from McDaniel High School as its seventh community solar project. It is one of the first public benefits planned for the Bird Alliance of Oregon site, which will host nature trails and a wildlife hospital that should provide educational opportunities for area students. Work on the solar array is proceeding quickly and should be visibly complete within the coming weeks. More visible changes to the site will continue over the coming years.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

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The Bird Alliance of Oregon recently completed its purchase of a 12.51-acre property on NE 82nd Avenue across from Leodis V. McDaniel High School. For decades, this overgrown field was known for the graffiti-covered remnants of a golf driving range built on top of a landfilled quarry. Within the next several years, it will become a new wildlife hospital and nature sanctuary for the 122-year-old organization formally known as Portland Audubon.

The organization plans to restore much of the land to its native habitat with nature trails and park space for public use. The site’s proximity to schools and connectivity to the MAX light rail and Portland’s most active bus line made it an ideal location for the Bird Alliance of Oregon to host educational programs and showcase its wildlife viewing opportunities. Portland has limited sites that offer the continuous acres needed for a wildlife hospital and rehabilitation center. The organization operates year-round, providing injured native birds and other wildlife opportunities to return to the wild. This site will support a new building expected to double the floor area of the Bird Alliance’s current Center with the capacity to treat more than 6,000 animals a year. The site’s topography is challenging for any development, and other potential buyers have failed in past attempts to transform it into a large shopping complex.

The Rose City Sand and Gravel company excavated an 80-foot-deep hole in the center of the site during its many years in operation. Around 1972, site owners converted operations to support the H.G. LaVelle landfill. Over the next ten years, they filled the pit with construction debris, including wood products, metals, and rubble, comprising approximately 2 million cubic yards of solid waste. Landfill deposits included rubble from Interstate-205’s construction. When the landfill closed in 1982, operators covered the site with a clay cap, installing a landfill gas extraction unit and methane monitoring equipment to treat decomposing organic material. Building a substantial structure over the clay cap takes significant engineering. However, the perimeter of the former pit is stable ground and suitable for conventional construction.

*_{Former pro-shop building and offices for golf driving range}*

The Bird Alliance of Oregon embraced the site’s past and actively supports the remediation of brownfield sites like this one, bringing them back to productive use. Earlier this year, the group secured a Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) grant to restore native habitat across the property. They plan to plant hundreds of native trees and create a pollinator habitat underneath and around a two-acre community solar array on the sloped land at the property’s south side. The multiple PCEF grants received by the organization will power the new structures and offset utility costs for around 200 low-income community members while strengthening the urban tree canopy.

The plans for this site align with the Bird Alliance of Oregon’s commitment to climate resiliency and habitat protection. These principles complement the work that started over a decade ago at the adjacent Dharma Rain Zen Center. That group purchased the nearly 14 acres to the east in 2012, restoring it to an urban greenspace with habitat for native plants and animals. They created walking trails open to the community and built several small buildings at the center of their property. Together, these two organizations and Glenhaven Park across the street will preserve a green band in the urban core that will support the surrounding community with accessible natural spaces.

With grant funding available, work could begin next year, clearing old structures. The group plans to add additional soil to the property, giving tree roots the depth needed above the clay landfill cap. Developing new structures on the site will take years and require additional funding. This location will become the Bird Alliance of Oregon’s second Portland metro area site, and they will continue to operate in Northwest Portland along with this planned new facility.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

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