Tag: Verizon

Community, Event, New Business

Jade District Learning Center at PCC

On May 8th, Verizon, Hacienda CDC, and Portland Community College (PCC) hosted an open house for the Jade District Learning Center. It is one of three new centers intended to remove barriers between low-income Portlanders and tech resources. Elected officials, corporate sponsors, and community organization leaders spoke at the late afternoon event while letting people explore the tech-focused maker space. Community access to technological resources was the common theme of the event, with each speaker reinforcing the need for initiatives that create opportunities for workforce development, digital literacy, and entrepreneurial learning. Unlike similar resources in educational settings, program operators will not restrict this center to PCC students.

Verizon Community Forward partnered with Hacienda CDC to bring this updated Learning Center to the PCC campus at 2305 SE 82nd Avenue. The work on these centers ramped up in 2022 and built on Hacienda CDC’s technical access work. People can visit the two-room center on the second floor of the Student Commons building right off SE 82nd Avenue in the former PCC STEM Center location. Visitors can access free internet, 3D printers, laser cutters, virtual reality tools, and free programming centered around STEM education.

Speakers, Michael Dembrow (Oregon State Senator), May Yadanar Linn (Colorful Myanmar), Khanh Pham (Oregon State Representative) Dr. Adrien Bennings (President PCC), and Rudy Reyes (Verizon) among other project partners.

The Jade District Learning Center has open lab days on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from noon to 4 p.m., with an additional day on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month. The center’s primary goal is to bring cutting-edge technology to historically underserved communities. However, it is open to all those looking to expand their understanding of technology and keep up with a progressively digitally dependent world. 

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

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Construction, Demolition, Infrastructure

A CoW Will Now Connect Your Call

In the next few months, the mobile phone network operator Verizon Wireless will deploy a temporary Cell-tower on Wheels (CoW) to 432 NE 74th Avenue. This device will support the wireless network during the demolition and reconstruction of the site’s equipment room. The existing cell tower will remain on NE Glisan Street and return to operation after demolition crews raze the former TV broadcast facility where the network equipment is currently located.

Last December, Verizon Wireless filed a permit to create a new equipment area within a ten by twenty-foot fenced area on the residentially-zoned southern portion of the property. The enclosure will house equipment cabinets and a generator associated with cell phone antennas on a utility pole in the NE Glisan Street right-of-way. Crews will construct a fully sight-obscuring eight-and-a-half-foot tall wood fence around the equipment shed and standby power generator. The wireless support staff will access the space through a four-foot gate on the north side. Landscapers will provide plantings around the outside perimeter to further blend the structures into the residential streetscape.

Plan set from 2019 Cell Site upgrade showing equipment room being demolished

The new weather enclosures installed behind the fence will replace the existing three racks full of batteries, power management devices, and radio equipment stored in the northeast corner of the former TV studio. Crews will deconstruct the building to make way for the site’s two future low-income and supportive housing developments. Verizon Wireless will deploy the portable cell tower to maintain cell phone coverage during construction. It includes a cellular antenna, transceiver device, battery, and other necessary equipment required to provide a stable wireless mobile network. The transition to the temporary equipment should be seamless for users. Expect new equipment to arrive on site later this year ahead of demolition work.

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.