This past weekend, craftspeople began installing the long-anticipated mosaic tile mural at the Jacksons Gas station and Food Store. This artistic creation of Hector H. Hernandez will adorn a cinderblock wall placed behind the new pedestrian plaza at NE 82nd Avenue and Glisan Street. The corner community space and mural are part of a significant redevelopment project that rebuilt a Shell refueling station and created a substantially larger convenience store.
Montavilla Neighborhood Association members selected Hernandez for this project in the latter part of 2020. The artist met with neighborhood residents and Board members to gather inspiration for the project. Those conversations and his years of experience creating public art guided the creation of the mural’s design presented at the October 10th, 2022, meeting. His slide deck included work in a variety of mediums representing an array of subjects. The presentation also offered a look at the OPB segment featuring Hernandez’s work on the side of the Woodburn Independent newspaper building.
Hernandez worked for months cutting the individual tile pieces for this mural in his studio, adhering them to mesh backing for transportation to the site. Now, he and his support team are placing the mosaic panels together on the cinderblock wall and filling in the gaps with individual tiles before grouting. The tiles are small, and the work draws on ancient skills not regularly practiced by modern craftspeople.
Jacksons Food Stores funded this work as part of its commitment to community support in the areas in which it operates. Along with the plaza, work at this location included many improvements to the sidewalk infrastructure and expansion of the urban tree canopy. Completing this public art installation will mark the final phase of construction at this site, but the mural will become a lasting display of Montavilla’s history and diversity.
Disclosure: The Author of this article served on the Montavilla Neighborhood Association Board during the mural’s selection process.
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On September 28th, the African Youth & Community Organization (AYCO) will host the Unleashing Roots fundraising gala in their new Dream Center building at 2110 SE 82nd Avenue. The immigrant and refugee support nonprofit is seeking sponsors for the event and selling individual tickets to people interested in supporting this organization. The Thursday afternoon event begins at 3 p.m. and features Oregon Senator Kayse Jama as the keynote speaker.
AYCO purchased its new building in January 2023. However, the wedge-shaped structure sat mostly vacant since its construction, never finding a primary tenant. Consequentially, it lacks sufficient demising walls and doesn’t meet the organization’s needs. Funds from this gala will support the tenant improvements planned for the space and further the group’s goals of creating a cultural hub in the Montavilla Community. However, the event is more than just a platform to support AYCO’s array of services for immigrant communities across the metro area. The gala is an opportunity to examine the past years of accomplishments and look at the group’s path forward. “Unleashing Roots is an occasion to reflect on our journey and celebrate the remarkable achievements we have made together. We transformed setbacks into stepping stones, turning a long-empty shell of a building into a beacon of hope for our community,” wrote the Executive Director of AYCO Jamal Dar.
Individuals wishing to attend the Unleashing Roots gala can purchase a ticket for $65.00 at https://aycoworld.nationbuilder.com/unleashing_roots, and businesses wanting to provide support can contribute at several levels that offer benefits that can include tickets or whole tables at the event. AYCO also accepts donations year-round at the organization’s website. With a successful fundraising campaign, the building could soon transform into the youth activity center and cultural services hub envisioned for this site.
Work is underway on Vestal School as crews improve accessibility at the nearly 100-year-old educational facility. Portland Public Schools (PPS) is expanding and reconfiguring the parking area to include more accessible parking spaces and create a new main-level entrance ramp. When completed, people returning to Vestal School after the summer break will have 50 striped parking stalls with three accessible spaces conveniently placed near the building’s accessible entrance.
Site map courtesy PPS
The original parking configuration accommodated approximately 31 vehicles in striped stalls, two of which were reserved accessible parking spaces. However, cars often park within the playground area when the lot fills up. “The paved area just to the south of the striped stalls was also used for parking but had no striping,” explained Valerie Feder, Director of Media Relations for PPS.
Overhead image from Portland Maps showing old configuration and overflow parking
The updates are part of the 2020 Bond Project that, among other PPS improvements, adds Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant access to district properties. Project designers shifted Vestal’s parking lot’s entry westward away from the reserved parking stalls, allowing accessible parking users safe access to the building. Crews removed 100 feet of chainlink fence that had marked the former edge of the parking lot and constructed a new fence to the south. Expanding the parking lot boundary will properly separate vehicle access from the playground while providing sufficient parking for staff and visitors.
Showing old parking lot entry and new diagonal path
Cement masons will pour a concrete path diagonally across the northwest corner of the north-side lawn allowing level access for people to travel around to the back ramp, which is also under construction. This project aims to increase accessibility and student safety while maintaining the classic appearance of the school building. Expect construction to continue into August as crews work to add these needed improvements.
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TriMet’s 82nd Avenue Transit Project will receive a $630,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration, supplying early funding for the public transit organization’s efforts to bring FX™ rapid bus service to 82nd Avenue. Members of the Oregon Congressional delegation announced this influx of project seed money two weeks after a July 7th bus tour of 82nd Avenue by U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and Senator Jeff Merkley.
TriMet is exploring options to create faster bus service along a portion of the 72 line. This service would adopt many features currently used along SE Division Street’s FX™ 2 line that opened in September 2022. “Through dedicated federal support, TriMet and our regional partners have the opportunity to transform 82nd into a safe, vibrant, thriving corridor, featuring faster, more reliable transit mirrored after our TriMet FX™ service on Division Street,” said TriMet General Manager Sam Desue Jr. Converting the 72 bus line to FX™ service on 82nd Avenue will require the removal of stops, construction of near level boarding platforms, and the use of dedicated Business Access and Transit(BAT) lanes in certain sections of the line. These enhancements would speed up travel time on the region’s most used TriMet bus line.
Creation of TriMet FX™ service on 82nd Avenue is in the early exploration phase, with many attributes still under consideration. The awarded grant is part of the Federal Transit Administration’s Areas of Persistent Poverty (AOPP) program. It likely represents an insignificant amount compared to the yet unknown cost of the total project. By comparison, the Division Transit Project that constructed the FX™ 2 bus service cost just under $175 million. TriMet will use the funding received in this grant to improve transit safety and access on 82nd Avenue, analyze the use of zero-emissions buses, and assess additional infrastructure enhancements to support high-capacity transit service throughout the corridor. Receiving the grant money does not guarantee that significant transit improvements will occur on 82nd Avenue, but it does fund additional planning and signals Federal interest in this project. Federal contributions supplied over half the funding used in the Division Transit Project, and this 82nd Avenue endeavor will likely require similar support at the national level.
Image courtesy PBOT
People interested in following transportation projects and other improvements planned for 82nd Avenue should subscribe to updates from the Building a Better 82nd Portland run site and the Metro-hosted 82nd Avenue transit project site. Interested participants can also attend Building a Better 82nd Workshops. The next one occurs tonight, Thursday, July 20th, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) offices at 8188 SE Division Street.
By
Jacob Loeb
Disclosure: The author of this article serves on the Building a Better 82nd Community Advisory Groupand the 82nd Avenue Business Association board
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Saturday morning, July 15th, Portland Fire & Rescue closed a section on SE 82nd Avenue to battle a fire at a used car lot. A sales office building for Millennium Motors at 720 SE 82nd Avenue caught fire before 8 a.m. Multiple engines arrived on site to contain the fire, closing SE 82nd Avenue from SE Washington to Yamhill streets. Crews had reopened travel lanes by 9:30 a.m., leaving a smaller team onsite to monitor for flare-ups. Fire spread appears minimal, and the quick response by emergency services likely saved many vehicles and adjacent property.
Oregon Grown Dispensary quietly closed its pot sales store at 324 SE 82nd Avenue this month. The store and its owner often attracting widespread media attention to Portland’s Marijuana industry and the neighborhood. Its closure ends a 13-year history of cannabis use and sales in this building.
In July 2010, the Cannabis Cafe relocated to Montavilla from the Woodlawn neighborhood, taking over a basement bar space that previously held Aaron’s Wine Cellar and Piano Bar. Oregon NORMML operated the consumption space for people holding Oregon medical marijuana cards, charging entry fees and monthly dues. The 4,000-square-foot Cafe reused many of the wine bar’s existing furniture and game tables, making it a cozy gathering space for members. That community room closed down a few years later. However, the Cafe’s sign remained on site as part of Oregon Grown’s collection of memorabilia chronicling the regional legalization efforts.
An April 20th Washington Post article referred to Oregon Grown’s storefront as the “Library of Congress of Cannabis.” Since July 1, 2015, possession and use of recreational marijuana has been legal in the State of Oregon. That legislative reform has launched a wave of storefronts selling marijuana and derivative products. Oregon Grown claimed to be one of the oldest community-based dispensaries in Portland. True to its medicinal roots, the store offered discounts to medical card holders and focussed on small-batch, craft cannabis items.
People looking to buy recreational Cannabis have a wide selection in the area and across the city. However, this place was not just another storefront. It was a player in the nations shifting view on drug use, supporting the efforts of the people pushing for legalization. This dispensary’s closure could indicate that marijuana sales no longer has space for its early pioneers, but that reality is an almost inevitable outcome of any industry maturing.
Update: The shop owners name was removed from this article at their request.
By
Jacob Loeb
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On June 22nd, the Jacksons Food Stores and Shell Gas Station reopened to customers on the corner of NE Glisan Street and 82nd Avenue. This multi-year project involved merging two properties and expanding the store’s footprint to accommodate an enhanced selection of edible items. The Jacksons design team implemented several retail and food service advancements throughout their new market, many of them firsts for the chain’s Oregon stores.
The redesigned Jacksons at 611 NE 82nd Avenue features a market-style store with prepared foods and grocery options, an eight-pump refueling station, and a corner pedestrian plaza with covered seating. The entire project added numerous new street trees and landscaping while retaining many of the preexisting mature trees. Later this year, a local artist will install a mosaic tile mural on the corner wall visible to all passing by the station.
The original gas station’s convenience store offered a modest selection of snacks and drinks in a confined space. According to Alex Romero-Chavez, District Manager for Jacksons, the structure itself had outlived its useful lifespan. He explained that the company would have needed to rebuild the store even without any expansion at this location. While looking at the site for improvements, Jacksons determined that an expanded store in this location would benefit the neighborhood. The group purchased an adjacent property to the north that once housed a Pizza Hut restaurant, merging the two properties into a 0.92-acre parcel.
Designers working with Jacksons used that expanded space to create a 4,452-square-foot convenience store with modern stone cladding. Customers can enter from the sidewalks or one of two parking lots to the north and south of the building. Gerard Aguilar, Regional Manager for Jacksons, anticipates store patrons will be impressed with the selection of food and drinks available at this location. Staff stocked the store with grocery essentials, including milk, eggs, and bacon. Shelves contain a wide assortment of chips, drinks, desserts, and other snacks. This location has an extensive selection of bottled wines and beer. A walk-in “beer cave” surrounds the shopper with a multitude of beer selections in self-fronting racks that always keep the brews visible to shoppers.
Walk-in “beer cave”
Prepared hot and cold food is another marquee feature of this store, and many new technologies help keep the food at peak taste throughout the day. It starts with an onsite kitchen in the back where precooked base ingredients are heated and assembled into the dishes available in the self-service displays. Hot food shelves use heated air curtains to keep the food at the optimal temperature until purchased. That retail technology works similarly to the cold air curtain used for open-faced refrigeration units. Even the pizza display utilizes new technology to better preserve the product. In addition to heating, it uses humidity controls to prevent the dough from drying out.
Hot dispensers use heated air-curtain similar to the cool air-curtain used for open-faced food storage
People looking for the staple of this type of store can use the brewed-to-order automated coffee machine. However, the cutting-edge automatic milkshake machine could see significantly more use, at least during summer. Customers can place a special ice cream cup into the machine and have it whip the frosty creation while they wait. Romero-Chavez explained that he has high hopes for serving the neighborhood. “This should be the destination for the whole community.” He envisions it replacing some grocery store trips for people in the community. The central location for the store has the potential to fill the gap left by last year’s closure of Sunny 82nd Market. Romero-Chavez is particularly excited to serve people who use the Montavilla Park and Community Center across the street that may need a take-and-go option.
Speed of shopping is an integral part of this store’s redesign, and Jacksons has just begun to roll out self-checkout to improve the customer experience. Each payment terminal can flip over and become a cashier-free station for credit card paying patrons. Age-verified products and cash sales will require store staff to ring up the purchases, but customers can otherwise checkout independently without waiting in line. This process only recently graduated out of testing, making this one of the first locations in Oregon to implement this payment option.
Over the last month, new store staff have trained at other locations. Jacksons has filled thirteen of the sixteen positions, and those employees have spent the previous few days readying the shop. The store will open daily from 5 a.m. to midnight, with plans to transition to 24-hour service when business conditions warrant it. People working and living near this store should now have a new option for convenient access to a variety of food items.
By
Jacob Loeb
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Heavy equipment is onsite at the Washman car wash on NE 82nd Avenue and Glisan Street. The business is expanding the facility to support its growing customer base and improve site safety. Recently, crews removed nine trees and prepared the old gravel employee parking lot along NE 81st Avenue for a sizeable self-service vacuum parking area. Landscaping planned for the site will plant over 30 new trees adding shade to the sidewalk along the property’s western edge and creating a buffer between the neighboring building to the south. A six-foot-tall welded steel fence will surround much of the currently open property helping to define the reduced vehicle entry and exit points.
Last summer, Washman submitted permit applications to expand their auto spa facility at 315 NE 82nd Avenue, occupying most of a city block. The project’s primary goal centers on moving self-service vacuum stations from their current position around the car wash tunnel to a separate area on adjacent land owned by the company. Relocating that equipment allows for increased cleaning stations while creating more queueing space for vehicles heading into the automated wash. Site upgrades also include a reduction in curb cuts leading into the property, making for a safer pedestrian realm.
Image from plan set with Montavilla News illustrations in color. Black arrows indicate vehicle path.
Previously, this location saw motorists enter the site at unpredictable points along its NE 82nd Avenue and NE Glisan Street frontages, causing conflicts between people on the sidewalk and vehicles. Reconstructed sidewalks and new fencing around the block will clarify where potential collisions could occur for drivers and pedestrians. The new configuration will also prevent left turns onto NE Glisan Street, further reducing the potential for car crashes.
In addition to trees and other landscaping planned at the site, Washman will construct the new vacuum station lot with porous asphalt pavement. This parking surface allows water to pass through the material, allowing rainfall to absorb naturally into the ground below, leaving the area free of standing water and reducing the need for excessive drainage infrastructure.
The new vacuum system installed during this upgrade will use a central shed for the mechanical equipment, with PVC pipes running to each cleaning stall’s hose. This configuration will place the noisiest equipment away from the apartment buildings along NE 81st Avenue. David Tarlow, Chief Financial Officer of Washman, explained last year how excited the company is for this project and what it means for pedestrian safety. “We believe this will result in less traffic near the school than there is now, and the SE 82nd sidewalk that borders our site will be less congested and safer with the removal of the vacuums,” said Tarlow.
This project should progress faster than the housing construction projects underway in the area. However, Washman will remain open during construction, and work delays may occur to maintain business operations. During sidewalk construction, pedestrians should use alternate routes and avoid this block, and drivers should use caution in this area.
By
Jacob Loeb
Disclosure: The author of this article serves on the 82nd Avenue Business Association board where Washman is a member organization.
Promotion: Help keep independent news accessible to the community. Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to consider becoming paid subscribers or sponsors. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.
On April 29th, the 17th Annual 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade returned to the streets with participants embarking from Eastport Plaza at Bush Street. The colorful and raucous group headed north on 82nd Avenue towards Yamhill Street. Spectators lined the entire path to observe the various groups walking, dancing, and cruising down the road.
What had started as a small parade in 2007 grew into a significant community event over the years, taking a break during the pandemic. After three years off, it returned with many familiar faces and some new participants. All four Portland Commissioners participated this year alongside the businesses and community groups. Portlands’s ABC affiliate KATU live-streamed this year’s event. A recording of the stream is available on the KATU website.
The 82 Roses Community Enrichment Coalition organizes this East Portland parade. Today’s celebration is the first event on the roadway since the City of Portland took control over 82nd Avenue from the Oregon Department of Transportation. The success of today’s event offers an optimistic view of 82nd Avenue’s future and a gradual return to normalcy.
By
Jacob Loeb
Commissioner Rene GonzalezCommissioner Mingus MappsCommissioner Carmen RubioCommissioner Dan Ryan
Central City Concern (CCC) is relocating its Recuperative Care Program (RCP) to the former Comfort Inn at 8225 NE Wasco Street. From this new location, staff will provide ongoing medical and housing support for people recently discharged from the hospital but needing continued recovery assistance. Participants are referred directly from local hospitals, health plans, and outpatient providers, staying on the property for an average of four to six weeks.
CCC is purchasing the 66-unit former hotel to host the RCP program currently housed within the Blackburn Center at 122nd Avenue and E Burnside Street. That location often runs at its capacity of 51 participants. The program’s relocation to the NE 82nd Avenue building will allow it to expand to address the 25 to 35 patient referral waitlist. Beyond the added space, the new facility offers centrally located access to transportation through the adjacent Max station and the 72 Bus line. According to Jordan Wilhelms, director of CCC’s RCP program, many of their clients face mobility issues and need easy access to TriMet. “Having access to public transportation is critical to their recovery,” wrote Wilhelms in an email interview.
The RCP provides a critical service to recovering people who do not have access to post-treatment support. Medical respite care prevents recently discharged patients from relapsing and needing to be readmitted. Inadequate post-hospitalization care is a particular concern for unhoused individuals who do not have access to primary care or specialty outpatient care. CCC will provide on-site primary care and pharmacy support for RCP participants in the new building, so people staying on the property can have immediate access to those services. The health care and pharmacy services currently offered at Blackburn Center will remain at the E Burnside Street facility, while the soon-to-be vacated RCP space could help expand the supportive housing program offered in that building.
Since 2005, CCC has grown the RCP and often stands as an example to other communities facing similar issues. “We were early adopters of the medical respite care service and are routinely visited by governmental and organizational representatives from cities all over the country looking to replicate the model. Our service is built around connecting participants with appropriate health care, helping stabilize health conditions, and accessing much-needed housing support,” explained Wilhelms. They provide around-the-clock support for clients and a place for medical providers to refer patients experiencing homelessness and needing additional care to recover from an acute or chronic condition.
Sheltered people often accomplish post-hospital care at home with the assistance of their personal support network, but that option is not available to everyone. RCP partners OHSU, Providence, and Health Share rely on this program to discharge at-risk patients to a safe and supportive environment where they can receive continued care. Programs like RCP can save money and keep hospital beds open. With the RCP option, people do not need to extend their hospital stay solely because they have no medically sound place to go when released. The CCC is engaging neighborhood and business associations in conversations regarding this site, and people can direct questions to the senior director of public affairs with the CCC, Juliana Lukasik, at juliana.lukasik@ccconcern.org.
Disclosure: The author of this article servers on the boards of the 82nd Avenue Business Association and Montavilla Neighborhood Association.
By
Jacob Loeb
Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.
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