Concordia Neighborhood Association | Portland, Oregon

New NE 42nd Avenue Bridge Construction Beginning Soon

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Land Use & Transportation

By Keith K. Daellenbach, Contributing Writer

Proposed plan for bridge. Photo courtesy of PBОТ.

The NE 42nd Ave. bridge that services ingress and egress from the eastern edge of Concordia is due for replacement and a new bridge will be completed in approximately two years.  It will provide safer transport for the 5,000 vehicles that cross over this span daily by taking bicyclists, pedestrians, large freight trucks, and seismic safety into account. Full closure to bridge access began August 11th, 2025 and detours are in place including NE Columbia Boulevard, NE Cully Boulevard, and NE 82nd Avenue.  

The existing bridge is a five-span, four-abutment bridge, which crosses over the key east-west transportation corridor of NE Lombard Street (Highway 30) and the Union Pacific railroad tracks. The design was approved on June 16, 1938 and the bridge was likely constructed between 1938 and 1939. The original bridge has lasted nearly 40 years beyond its original life expectancy of 50 years. 

Modern Concerns

While originally designed to accommodate H-15 trucks, which weigh 6,000 pounds on the front axle, 24,000 pounds on the rear axle, and have a 14-foot wheelbase; today’s H-20 trucks weigh 80,000 pounds and so the new bridge is designed to safely carry a suite of Oregon-specific over-dimensional truck configurations up to 258,000 pounds, spread over 13 axles.  

Other modern concerns will also be taken into account. In 1938, no consideration was made to establish a structure for safe bicycling and that will be remedied with the new bridge.  

Finally, the current span did not consider seismic design requirements and thus the current bridge is not seismically stable.  Since we know that our region will experience a major Cascadia subduction zone earthquake in the future, the design of the replacement bridge follows modern American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) seismic bridge design specifications which rely on Oregon’s Cascadia Subduction Zone hazard maps for collapse prevention and life-safety.  The “earthquake-ready” design removes weight restrictions along the north-south freight connection between Lombard and Columbia Boulevard. 

Costs

Design work was initiated in 2019 and completed in 2021.  The initial $18 million bid for bridge construction was originally received by PBOT in December 2023.  Following a schedule update that allowed more time for bridge demolition and new bridge erection, a second and final bid from Cascade Bridge LLC (Vancouver, Washington), with extensive experience in Pacific Northwest bridge construction, was received and accepted at $16 million a year later in December 2024.  

The total estimated project cost is $25 million dollars which includes additional “soft costs” such as design, construction engineering, and oversight.  These funds were assembled by PBOT (Portland Bureau of Transportation) with funding from City of Portland General Fund and its Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (HVUT), PBOT’s System Development Charges (SDC) and Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF).

The New Design

Today’s bridge has no bike lane and a single narrow sidewalk.  The new bridge, classified as a major emergency transportation route, will also have a 50-year minimum expected lifespan.  It will be constructed with drilled concrete shafts for support abutment foundations and two 145-foot, curved steel girders, one for each span with one abutment in the middle.  Across the bridge span, there will be a 7-foot wide elevated bike lane on the west side, two 13-foot wide travel lanes, and a 10-foot wide elevated multi-use path that accommodates pedestrian, ADA, and bicycle access on the east side.  An adjacent PBOT connector project is planned to establish a bike path from nearby NE 47th Avenue, at the northern terminus of the bridge, along NE Cornfoot Road for completion in January 2026.  Eventually, it will be possible to cycle on bike paths all the way to Portland International Airport via NE Alderwood Road and NE 82nd Avenue.  

While fourteen trees on the south side of NE Lombard Street will be removed to accommodate a contractor staging and storage area, these trees will be replanted following bridge completion.  Over 30 other mature trees immediately west of the approach to the bridge and south of NE Lombard Street will be spared.

The span will be 2-feet higher on the underside to accommodate today’s high-clearance freight trucks on NE Lombard Street.  It will remove the current “pinch point” under the bridge by widening the space adjacent to vehicular lanes and include a bike lane.  The upgrade package includes new signing, striping, illumination, and stormwater drainage.  

Project Implementation

Currently, Cascade Bridge is focused on site preparation and utility installation.  Eventually, up to four weekend closures to vehicular traffic on NE Lombard Street will be scheduled to execute bridge demolition and span placement.  To learn more, visit 

PBOT’s “NE 42nd Avenue Bridge Replacement (over Lombard Street)” at bit.ly/3JdefBd.

Following the structural upgrade of the NE 33rd Avenue bridge just nine blocks west, completed in July 2023, PBOT, with its partners, is again taking action in our neighborhood to build safe and efficient transport with bridge installation over a primary east-west vehicular and railroad transportation corridor at NE 42nd Avenue.  It will be finished in two year’s time and will serve our neighborhood for decades to come.

Keith Daellenbach is a mechanical engineer and outdoor enthusiast who loves mountain climbing, skiing, biking, canoeing, noeing, and and beekeeping with wife Amy and son Micah.

Special Spaces – The Church that Became Alberta Abbey

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, History

By Leo Newman | Contributing Writer

Today Alberta Abbey is a venue for music and theatre. Photo by Leo Newman.

Long before it was a venue for open mics and Star Wars-themed burlesque shows, the Alberta Abbey operated as the Mallory Avenue Christian Church. For exactly a century, the post-war modernist structure, with its unmistakable three story tower and copper spire, has presided over the Albina Neighborhood through waves of urban growth and decay, demographic changes, civil rights struggles and community organizing. 

The Underground Church: Pre-War Years (1920-1945) 

On May 8th, 1920, the Rodney Avenue Christian Church and the Woodlawn Church voted to merge and construct a new church. The union of 278 congregants purchased a 100’ x 100’ parcel at NE Mallory and Alberta Streets and hired Los Angeles-based Robert H. Orr to build the new church, which they named the Church of Christ at Mallory and Alberta. 

Orr drew up plans for an austere Revivalist church, three stories tall on all four sides with Gothic pointed-arch windows and an octagonal sanctuary with domed roof. Such was the style of early 1920s architecture (like Temple Beth Israel on NW Flanders or the Frank Manor House on the Lewis & Clark College campus, both designed by Herman Brookman.) Orr imagined an ornate entryway on the corner, with two sets of steps meeting at two double doors on a raised patio. 

The congregation could only afford to build Orr’s plan for the basement, which was completed in May 1925.  It contained a large gymnasium with a stage, some classrooms and other ancillary spaces. For twenty years, the church was completely subterranean. 

During the Great Depression and the World War II, the construction of churches in Oregon slowed to a halt. However, the war-effort attracted tens of thousands of migrant workers to Portland, many of them African Americans from the South. As the Oregonian reported, “During the past few years, churches of the Northwest have been faced with an unprecedented situation—not enough pews to take care of their congregations.” 

The Walter E. Kelly Remodel (1946-1949) 

Enters Portland architect Walter E. Kelly, whose other notable contribution to Alberta street is the now Alberta Rose Theater, built in 1926. The church contracted Kelly to design a streamlined and cost-efficient version of Orr’s design which they had purchased twenty years prior. Kelly’s first attempt was an awkward, blocky redesign of Orr’s plan that resembled a modernist auditorium rather than a church but in 1948, Kelly completed a plan for the church as it now stands and construction began later that year.

In modernist style, the church was built with concrete, brick and plaster. Its front-facing facades, with its pitched roof and belltower, are a modernist interpretation of the many small classical churches that sit in the residential blocks surrounding Alberta Street. The church’s minimalistic interior is consistent of modernist (and budget-conscious) post-war churches. The sanctuary’s original flooring was “battleship linoleum,” and its balcony was polished concrete. Kelly’s plans included a place for a fireplace which was never constructed, but is now used as a cafe. 

The second floor, which straddles the two-story sanctuary to the east and west, contained pastors’ studies, an assembly hall, two small classrooms and a small caretaker’s apartment. Most of the rooms in the eastern tower were recently consolidated into a single open-floor plan. The northeast tower contains a third floor that presides over the neighborhood. 

Demographic Changes to Alberta

The physical landscape of the Albina neighborhoods changed remarkably between 1945 and 1965. In 1948, the Vanport Flood forced some 20,000 African Americans to find housing in highly segregated Portland. Entire African American neighborhoods to the south were razed to the ground to make way for freeways, the Emmanuel Legacy Hospital, high-rises and entertainment complexes. 

Meanwhile, White families of means began leaving the neighborhood for the suburbs, while older Whites generally stayed. In 1957, the Fair Housing Act allowed Black Portlanders of means to leave Albina for newer, better neighborhoods. The exodus of wealthier families, White and Black, from Albina, allowed displaced working class Black families, many with small children, to move in. 

Minister Robert E. Cochran 

Despite maintaining a congregation of mostly older Whites into the 1970s, Mallory Christian Church became a significant patron of community organizations that served the local African American community. In July 1967, Rev. Clifford N. Trout hired recent PSU graduate and NAACP board member Robert E. Cochran as Director of Community Ministry, making Mallory Christian one of the first White churches in Oregon to hire a Black community minister. 

A Portland native and the son of a Pullman porter, Cochran studied Sociology at PSU while making waves as a charismatic, impassioned civil rights organizer. Described by the Oregon Advance / TIMES  as “one of the busiest men about town,” the 21-year old was elected to the local NAACP’s executive committee as youth chairman in April 1967. (His soon-to-be wife, Sarah Burrus was also elected as committee secretary). In March 1968, Mayor Terry D. Schrunk appointed Cochran to the Model Cities board. 

“I’ve been at this church for almost 10 years and for a long time we discussed the matter of community relationship,” Trout said to the Oregonian upon hiring Cochran. “The neighborhood changed from one with mainly older people to one with many children. We felt we should do something to help the changing community. We knew we couldn’t do it with volunteers. We felt we needed a staff person who could devote all of his time to the work.” 

The church announced Cochran’s appointment in Oregon Christian, July, 1967, thus: “Mr. Cochran is a negro, and well acquainted with the problems of Portland, especially the Albina area. He is in a very good position to fill the post we have in mind. Although he is not an ordained minister, he has majored in Sociology and has a keen interest and concern on behalf of people.” 

Cochran brought life to the church’s forgotten basement gymnasium, leading sports programs for neighborhood children. Much of the support for Cochran’s work came from existing agencies including the Urban League and the Church-Community Action Program (C-CAP). 

“I believe that a problem cannot be solved by one organization or by two organizations, but by many organizations –and the entire community, for that matter– working together.” said Cochran to The Oregonian in August 1967.

The YWCA and the People are Beautiful Program 

In the mid 1970s, Mallory Christian lent its basement to the YWCA, which provided child-care services and  organized several programs for women and girls of all ages, including free classes in everything from calligraphy, yoga, and jazz dance to astrology and personal improvement. Audrey Sanders, a school nurse and community organizer started working with the YWCA in 1974. “The main thing the YWCA did,” she says, “was to teach some of the parents and kids the importance of self-love, self-dignity and self-worth.”

In 1976, Mallory Christian launched the “People Are Beautiful” summer program with Sanders as its director. People Are Beautiful aimed to help its participants, the vast majority of whom were non-white junior high school students, realize their full potential and overcome discrimination and racism. The federal government and Portland Parks Bureau provided funding for the salaries of 14 staff members and daily breakfast and lunch for the children. In 1981, Sanders was among the founders of the Portland Habitat for Humanity Program. In 1990, she was the first ever recipient of the Portland YWCA’s “Founder’s Award.”

In the early 1990s William “Willie” Stoudamire served as director of the People Are Beautiful Program. A PSU basketball star, Stoudamire founded the Night Court Basketball League, which aimed to give gang-affected youth a safe, supervised place to be at night. In 1991, Mallory Christian lent its basement to Oregon Outreach Inc., a nonprofit alternative education program that served juveniles convicted of minor offenses. The program allowed these youth to report to the church for up to two weeks instead of serving time in jail. 

Mergers and Closure 

In the late 1990s, the wave of gentrification along Alberta Street pushed its African American community further east. In 2000, Mallory Christian merged with the Neighborhood Church of God and eventually disbanded entirely in 2004. The church was rented for brief periods to a short string of congregations until it was purchased by the Alberta Abbey Fellowship in 2012. 

Leo Newman is a paralegal and writer based in NE Portland. Trained as a historian, he enjoys exploring the history of Portland and the Pacific Northwest.

Plant Now for Color all Winter and Spring

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Gardening

By Caprice Lawless | Contributing Writer

Unless we’ve had a hard frost, November is an excellent time to plant pansies and spring-blooming bulbs. Whether planted in porch pots or out in the garden, pansies brighten Portland’s days right away, whereas sleeping bulbs planted today put on a bright display in spring.

“Pansies are blooming now,” says John Kill, thee new owner and general manager of Marbott’s Greenhouse & Nursery (1808 NE Columbia Blvd.) Accordingly, Marbott’s has stocked hundreds of pansies in a wide assortment of colors, sizes, and styles for planting now.

“Pansies like the cold,” Kill explains. “They lose steam in December, go back into bloom in January, and continue blooming through spring,” he added. He recommends using a half-strength, bloom-focused plant food for pansies. For continuing blossoms for the next seven months or so, he says gardeners says should deadhead spent blooms and keep the plants watered. “They don’t like to get dried out,” he added.

Eye-catching pansies as well as spring-flowering bulbs are a feature every autumn at Portland Nursery (5050 SE Stark Street). This year’s assortment includes tulips, daffodils, paperwhites, camas, anemones, irises, lillies, and alliums, to name a few. Staffer Whitney Holt says it’s easy to grow bulbs outdoors, provided each bulb is planted at its recommended hende depth dth. Some bulbs like a thick blanket of soil, whereas others, like the iris, do better in only a light dusting. Those planted outdoors rarely need winter watering in Portland, Holt points out. However, bulbs planted in big pots of soil on balconies and decks may benefit from an occasional winter drink.

Many spring bulbs — like paperwhites, daffodils, and amaryllises — grow rapidly and bloom quickly when planted indoors. These so-called “forced” bulbs, some planted only in pebbles, do need occasional watering. As with pansies planted outdoors, bulbs planted in the garden requireire little care as long as Portland’s weather doesn’t turn too dry. After they flower, Holt prefers to leave the leaves alone.

“Let them decompose, as they serve a biological function,” she says. “They provide homes for insects and animals as the leaves decompose.” Also offering customized bulbplanting is Garden Fever (3433 NE 24th Ave.)

“We’ve stocked up on dozens of varieties of tulips and daffodils, some of which are more exotic, for growing outdoors or in pots,” says employee Anne Laufe. To make customized hostess gifts, for example, staff can plant a half-dozen paperwhites or a single amaryllis bulb in a pot of in a por pebbles. To meet demand for forced-bulЬ planting, the shop stocks various colors, shapes, sizes, and finishes of pots, as well as an assortment of pebbles and colorful polished stones.

Caprice Lawless has written extensively on higher education, homesharing, technology, construction, and engineering. She moved to Oregon from Colorado in 2023, shortly after retiring from teaching college English and Journalism.

Foodvilla Reopening Soon Under Previous Ownership

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Local Businesses

By Cathy McCarthy | Contributing Writer

There’s good news at the corner of NE 33rd Avenue and Holman Street: Foodvilla Market, a longtime neighborhood corner store, is returning to familiar hands. BK and Diyana Kassab, owners of Aladdin’s Café next door, have reacquired Foodvilla, a business they know inside and out.

BK first ran the store for about 15 years beginning in the mid-1990s, before selling it to focus on the restaurant that he and Diyana opened in the early 2000s. The couple, who have owned the building since the ’90s, say they’re thrilled to bring the shop back into the family.

This new chapter will also be a family affair: the Kassabs’ son, Elias Kassab who grew up around Aladdin’s Café – will manage the reimagined store. “It’s exciting to breathe new life into the place where so many neighbors have stopped by over the years,” BK says.

While Foodvilla will continue to offer everyday essentials, the Kassabs are expanding its offerings in flavorful new directions. They will offer fresh Middle Eastern ingredients, spice blends, and specialty desserts, along with Turkish coffee, grab-and-go prepared foods, and an array of international and locally made snacks and products.

Some new features will roll out over time – including an ice cream machine and a deli counter. The family also plans to add a small seating area with tables where neighbors can linger over coffee or a quick bite. The space will serve as a comfortable extension of Aladdin’s Café – blending convenience, flavor, and community.

The Kassabs plan to keep evolving the store’s offerings after reopening, guided by feedback from their longtime customers and new neighbors alike.

Foodvilla is expected to reopen in early November. For updates, follow @foodvillapdx on Instagram.

Cathy McCarthy grew up in Concordia and, after years away, is glad to once again call the neighborhood home. She serves on the CNA board and leads the Social Committee. In her free time, you’ll find her out exploring the city and enjoying timе outdoors.

The Portland Book of Dates Second Edition Released

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News

When Concordian Eden Dawn and her now-husband Ashod Simonian started dating, they did things a little differently.

“He took me to a picnic on the Washougal river,” says Dawn. “We had such a good time that we decided to do 23 more picnics,” (since 23 happened to be his lucky number and her birthday.) Their unique courtship went viral on Instagram and during one of their last picnics, the two thought about putting all of them into a book.

The experience inspired them both to eventually create The Portland Book of Dates: Adventures, Escapes, and Secret Spots, a guidebook containing over 150 date ideas and outings in and around Portland. The book was published in January 2021, has sold 25,000 copies and is a consistent bestseller at Powells. Last month, the second edition was released.

“We wanted the book to help people with decision fatigue and function like a Rick Steves travel guide but look differently,“ Dawn says. She has a background in journalism and she writes the content. Simonian does the graphics and is also the creative director of the Imaginary Authors perfume line.

In The Portland Book of Dates, the itineraries are organized by neighborhood, which the couple thinks is an important feature for a guidebook. “People want to only have to park once, they want to be able to walk, they want a cozy place where they can talk and have an intimate moment, and they want to have a variety of kinds of things to do.”

And there are other considerations for good dates, too. Dawn says she and Simonian made sure to feature dates at local businesses and businesses inclusive to all kinds of patrons. Portland Dates also includes sections on dates for busy parents, dates that are inexpensive, and dates for groups. The second edition includes content updates due to pandemic closures as well as new sections on over-nighters, in-town dates, and day trips.

Dawn and Simonian personally go on all the dates themselves, so they can vouch for the special food items and experiences they recommend and so that readers can feel like they’re their friends. “When we’re in research-mode, we go on a crazy amount of dates, like 8 in a day,” says Dawn. To date, they’ve created date guidebooks for Seattle, Nashville, and are currently working on a similar guide- book for Los Angeles.

When they’re not out on dates, Dawn and Simonian can be found at their Northwest Concordia home with their two cats, Foxglove and Daphne. You can pick up The Portland Book of Dates at New Seasons and Ecovibe.

Dina Sage is the Managing Editor for CNews and enjoys outdoor activities and engaging in the arts. She lives with her husband, their daughter and two cats.

Special Spaces – Jazz at the Cotton Club

Posted on by Posted in Arts & Culture, Concordia News

By Leo Newman | Contributing Writer

Paul Knauls’ talent agent called him from Oakland to let him know the deal was set: come January, 1970, Etta James would play a four-week residency at the Cotton Club, “the only club on the West Coast with wall-to-wall soul.” Knauls made all the necessary arrangements. James would be backed up by Knaul’s house band, Billy Larkins and the Delegates, and the “At Last” singer would stay at Knauls’ five-bedroom house on N Williams and Monroe Street, which exclusively accommodated talent travelling through town. When the Delegates’ drummer backed out of the gig on the first day of rehearsals, Knauls plucked a teenage Ron Steen from across the street and put him behind the drum kit. Steen had never played for an audience.

Knauls, an airforce mechanic, moved to Portland from Spokane in 1962 with a dream of opening a nightclub for Portland’s African-American community. Successful nightclubs lined Albina’s commercial district along N Vancouver and Williams Avenues- and then there was the Cotton Club. By 1962, the small, declining nightclub on N Vancouver and Tillamook was a venue for burlesque shows and community events under the ownership of Lee “Mr. T” Thompson. Knauls bought the club from Mr. T, whose “high yellow” complexion, old suit and low grumble reminded him of a “grumpy old white man.” Its house band, an organ trio, was made up of neighborhood kids Hank Swarn on guitar and Mel Brown on drums. In an attempt to look older, the band members wore matching tuxedoes complete with bowtie and cumberbund. Brown, an 18-year old PSU freshman, had to sit in the kitchen between sets. 

Knauls reopened the Cotton Club in 1963. The small nightclub, a converted auto repair shop, was split into a bar and a showroom. The latter’s wooden floors and sandy wall paneling radiated amber. Tables circled around a waist-high, velvet-lined stage. Hoping to rehabilitate its reputation, he ditched the burlesque dancers and brought in organist Billy Larkin to lead the house band. The new trio became immediately popular. 

“That’s when things really got going,” says Brown. A year later, Billy Larkin and the Delegates would find themselves cutting their first record, Pigmy, in Dick Bock’s Los Angeles recording studio. The Delegates would rock the Cotton Club until 2:30AM, when attendees poured out onto Vancouver looking for an after-hours bar, such as Knaul’s own Geneva’s, which he opened in 1968. 

Alternatively, when Brown and his roommate George Page got their hands on new jazz records coming out of Chicago, they invited other musicians to their apartment off 8th and Knott to listen. “You couldn’t even get in the door,” Brown remembers, “we had all the latest sounds.” A decade later, Page would help start KBOO radio, where he showcased Black music that major stations refused to broadcast.

During Knauls’ tenure, the Cotton Club became Portland’s prime destination for popular Black musicians of the 1960s. Notable performers included Cab Calloway, Sammy Davis Jr., Big Mama Thorton and Little Esther Phillips. Oregon Journal writer Doug Baker featured the club in his column “Baker’s Dozen,” which helped popularize it among Portland’s White community. 

In 1965, Brown moved to Vancouver BC to drum a young band led by a young Tommy Chong, which had recently been signed to Motown. Brown got on well with the Motown crew and was touring the world with the Temptations by 1967. Between tours, he worked as a session musician for Motown in Detroit.

The Cotton Club closed its doors in 1970. Knauls cites racial division following the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the development of the Legacy Emmanuel Hospital as contributing factors to the closure of the Cotton Club and Paul’s Paradise, another Albina bar he owned. 

In January 1970, Billy Preston introduced Brown to the Beatles after a London concert at the Talk of the Town nightclub. Preston invited Brown and two other members of the Temptations’ backing band to help him record a version of George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord.” In 1973, Brown moved back to Portland, where he formed a new trio and in 1978, the trio went on the road with Diana Ross. 

In the years to follow, Brown and Steen became pillars of Portland’s jazz scene, both establishing Sunday jam sessions around town that live in legend for local musicians. Steen has hosted a Sunday jam session at Clyde’s Steakhouse, another jazz institution, for the past 20 years. Brown has longstanding residencies at the Jack London Revue and Salty’s on Columbia, and plays regular gigs at the Alberta Street Pub. 

Catch these Portland jazz greats in concert this month at these locations:

Ron Steen

Every Sunday from 7:30-10 pm
Clyde’s Steakhouse (5474 NE Sandy Blvd.)

Mel Brown

Saturday, October 4th, 1 -3 pm
Alberta Street Pub (1036 NE Alberta St.)

Thursday, October 16th, 8 pm
Jack London Revue (529 SW 4th Ave.)

Every Friday, 6 -9 pm
Salty’s on the Columbia (3839 NE Marine Dr.)

From the Board – Join Us for Conversations with District 2 Councilors and CNA Elections

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News

By Cathy McCarthy

Hi, Concordia!

Last month, we were delighted to host District 2 Councilor Dan Ryan at our September monthly meeting. He shared his perspective and answered questions on a wide range of topics—from services for unhoused neighbors, to small business support, to building stronger connections with neighborhood associations. It was an open, informative conversation, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue.

I wanted to share with you that over the coming months, neighbors will have two more opportunities to connect directly with our District 2 leaders. In October, we will welcome Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney, and in January 2026, Councilor Sameer Kanal.

Having access to your representatives means being able to ask questions, raise concerns, and share ideas with the people empowered to act on them. These conversations are also a chance to meet fellow neighbors, discover shared priorities, and show our leaders what matters most to the Concordia community. You don’t need to be an expert—just bring your perspective and your voice.

Speaking of civic engagement, don’t miss the November CNA Board meeting when we will hold board elections and vote on our updated bylaws. All Concordia neighbors are invited to attend, and your participation is vital.

Half of the board seats are up for election this year, including Chair; East 1; Northwest 1; Southwest 1; and At-Large positions 1, 3, and 5. Even if current board members run again, any qualified neighbor is welcome to put their name forward. Membership is open to all residents, property owners, and business licensees, 14 years of age or older, as well as governmental agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations, located within the district boundaries as defined in the map below. All details are available in the bylaws.

The updated bylaws are available for review at tinyurl.com/CNABylaws.

If you have questions about the election or upcoming meetings, please reach out to chair@concordiapdx.org or to me at AL4@concordiapdx.org.

Key Dates 

Wednesday, October 8, 6 – 8 pm
Community and Board Meeting with Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney

Wednesday, November 12, 6 – 8 pm
CNA Board Elections and voting on updated bylaws

Wednesday, January 14, 6 – 8:00 pm
Community and Board meeting with D2 Councilor Sameer Kanal

20-Year Anniversary Celebration at Ainsworth Linear Arboretum

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News, Trees

Tree Team founder and Concordia resident Jim Gersbach invites you to a special event this fall.

By Jim Gersbach | Concordia Tree Team

Come celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Ainsworth Linear Arboretum with cake and ice cream, puzzles, giveaways, and other fun stuff. Organized by the Concordia Tree Team, all events are free and open to the public.

Date: Saturday, Oct. 4

9-10 a.m. – One-hour guided tree walk. Learn about some of the fascinating trees on the west end of the arboretum with founder Jim Gersbach (myself.) Meet me on the northeast corner of Ainsworth and Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in front of Walgreens. The walk will be wheelchair accessible.

10-10:30 a.m. – Tree-related activities. Look for the Concordia Tree Team on the north side of Alberta Park along NE Ainsworth. Entertain yourself or friends and family with crossword puzzles and fun stuff for young ones.

10:30 – 11 a.m. – Tree planting. Local volunteers and city officials will commemorate the anniversary with the planting of a new tree in the median opposite Alberta Park.

11 – Noon – Tree parade. Join the revelers and walk east along Ainsworth to Kiss Café where free cake and ice cream will be served. Tree costumes encouraged!

The arboretum extends 1.5 miles along NE Ainsworth from Fernhill Park to Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Originally the median was a monoculture of Norway maples. These were supplemented in the ’80s by plantings of red oak, Raywood ash and European beech. Those four tree species and a scattering of sycamore maples (now a declared invasive in Oregon) and two green ash were all that grew in the median for decades.

As these trees died of age or other causes, such as sun damage to the thin-barked European beeches, Portland Urban Forestry and the Tree Team led an effort to get the City of Portland, which owns the median, to use the median as a showcase for promising new street trees, and to serve as a place to trial new species for possible use.

From just six species in spring 2004, (when the first deliberate planting to create this arboretum for street trees was done,) there are now more than four dozen species in the median from 30 different genuses. Some of the trees were planted as part of Friends of Trees neighborhood plantings in Woodlawn, Vernon, and Concordia or were donated from individuals. The majority, however, have come from Portland Urban Forestry.

Portland Urban Forestry waters young trees for three summers. After that, volunteers with the Concordia Tree Team water trees to help them grow faster and survive Portland’s increasingly dry summer months.

To learn more about this neighborhood treasure or how to get involved to help, visit ainsworthlineararboretum.org.

A native Oregonian, Jim Gersbach has lived in the Concordia neighborhood since 2002. He founded the Ainsworth Linear Arb ore t um b ac k in 2005 and was involved in helping create the Cully-Concordia International Grove and the Concordia Learning Landscape Arboretum.

The Marvel of the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant

Posted on by Posted in Concordia News

By Keith K. Daellenbach | Contributing Writer

Have you ever wondered where wastewater goes when you flush the toilet? If that toilet is in Portland, it very likely ends up at the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant on North Columbia Boulevard. This facility, operated by the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), continuously serves a population of 650,000 people.

Before 1952, raw sewage went directly into the Willamette River and Columbia Slough. Today, through nearly 75 years of incremental investment, the treatment plant processes an average of approximately 70 million gallons of wastewater per day. During periods of wet weather, the plant can process up to 450 million gallons per day. The big pipe system, a $1.4 billion investment (ca. 2011) that nearly eliminated combined sewer overflows, can hold 119 million gallons of sewage – sewage that would otherwise overflow into the Willamette River.

Large screens at the incoming Headworks Facility (built in 1996) filter out sticks, rocks, and litter, which are then trucked to a landfill. Next, the wastewater flows into an array of primary clarifiers, which are rectangular, concrete-lined pools, causing solids to settle as the wastewater movement slows. A bottomscraping mechanism removes sludge. Then, the liquid flows into aeration basins, where air is supplied. Trillions of microorganisms break down the organic material in an aerobic reaction, which creates byproducts of water and carbon dioxide. The wastewater then moves to the secondary clarifiers.

Circular clarifiers are the final step in separating fluids from solids. Alongside the eight existing secondary clarifiers, two new secondary clarifiers (each of which is 28-feet deep by 150-feet in diameter) were recently added to the plant and substantially increased its capacity. Wastewater from the aeration basins enters from the bottom center of these large clarifi ers and slows to a carefully designed fl uid speed, allowing remaining solids to separate for collection. These new clarifiers, located at the north end of the plant adjacent to the Columbia Slough, are part of a $515 million, seven-year upgrade aimed at increasing treatment capacity and reliability. The entire project is scheduled for completion in early 2027.

Given that the plant is in a low-lying area just above the water table on unstable soil, the potential for liquefaction during a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake is very high. Sophisticated construction methods were employed to construct a grid of concrete grout columns within the soil, extending nearly 70 feet down to provide a foundation designed to allow the new clarifi ers to remain operational following a signifi cant earthquake.

As the wastewater leaves the plant, it is treated with sodium hypochlorite to kill microorganisms. This disinfected effl uent is conveyed 2.3 miles north in a pipe to the Columbia River at river mile 105.5, where it is dechlorinated before entering the main stem of the Columbia River in approximately 43 feet of water off the north side of Hayden Island.

Waste also departs the plant as a biosolid. It is collected from the clarifiers, and, unlike the liquid effluent, is broken down in an anaerobic process that is largely free of oxygen. In ten large, above-ground, 90-foot to 120-foot diameter tanks called “digesters”, the sludge is heated to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, where microorganisms reduce the biomass content with methane and carbon dioxide byproducts. The solid, digested material is dewatered via fi lter presses and centrifuges, and then trucked 200 miles east, where it is applied to agricultural land in Eastern Oregon as a nutrientrich source of fertilizer to grow crops for animal feed. Nearly 100 percent of the renewable methane biogas byproduct is captured and added to NW Natural’s gas distribution network to serve as truck fuel eliminating the need for 1.3 million gallons of diesel valued at $3 million annually.

Investing in wastewater treatment plants replaces aging infrastructure, accommodates population growth with additional capacity, and responds to new regulations requiring enhanced treatment. Portland is famous for its pristine Bull Run drinking water supply near Mount Hood. At the other end of the water-use cycle, we are fortunate to have the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant in North Portland. Through continual investment and upgrades, BES protects Portland’s public health and the environment.

Join the TIF Action Planning Committee

Posted on by Posted in Uncategorized

By Clarence Larkins | Contributing Writer

A new Tax Increment Finance (TIF) committee is in the process of developing the Cully district’s first action plan, a document intended to guide roughly $35 million of investment in affordable housing and economic development over the next five years. In addition to large areas of the Cully neighborhood, the district boundary includes smaller portions of Beaumont-Wilshire, Roseway and several blocks of Concordia, west of NE 42nd Avenue (see shaded area on map). The committee is seeking Concordia neighborhood residents to join and support its mission.

Project Background

In 2018, a coalition of partners in the Cully neighborhood approached Prosper Portland to explore a community-centered TIF district that took historically underserved, marginalized and underrepresented voices into account during the district creation process. The goal was to ensure all Cully area residents could stay and benefit from the prosperity that district growth can bring, rather than be pushed out and replaced by it.

The Cully TIF District Plan was adopted in November 2022. A governance charter was adopted as part of the District Plan, which established a Community Leadership Committee to partner with Prosper Portland and the Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) in a co-creation model to guide investment.

By state law, TIF resources may only be used for physical, permanent improvements – so, for example, TIF dollars could be used to support the development of a daycare center, but could not be used to fund payroll for workers. These dollars can fund new residential or commercial development, home or business repairs, and things like down payment assistance for prospective low-income homeowners.

Get Involved

The TIF Action Plan committee meets the fourth Wednesday of each month from 6 – 8 pm at 4636 NE 42nd Ave. Each meeting contains a public comment period, which provides opportunity for individuals to provide ideas and feedback directly to committee members, Prosper Portland and PHB staff. All are welcome.

For more info:

-Visit prosperportland.us/portfolio-items/cully-tifdistrict.

– Contact Kathryn Hartinger at Prosper Portland (hartingerk@prosperportland.us).

– Contact Leslie Goodlow at the Portland Housing Bureau (leslie.goodlow@portland- oregon.gov).

Clarence Larkins has been a NE Portland resident for over 50 years. He is the the founder and president of Straight Path Inc., a non-profit that helps pave promising paths for young adults transitioning from foster care.