PSU Magazine Fall 1996

t'seementa A combination elementary school and housing structure is on the drawing board for the University District. By Brian White A n elementary school– Portland's first new grade school in more than 20 years-may open in 1998 right on the Portland State campus. Plans are jelling to construct a combination elementary school and college student housing structure on a 1-1/2 block site just south of Market Street, between SW 10th and 12th avenues. The project is another exam– ple of PSU's partnering for University District development-in this case, with Portland Public Schools and College Housing Northwest Inc., a nonprofit organization that builds and manages student housing. The project is likely to happen, according to all three partners, but fund– ing, feasibility studies, and final legisla– tive approval are still months away. What everyone would like to see is an elementary school that serves 350 kindergarten to fifth-grade students. The student pool would likely come from both outside the downtown area and from the increasing number of families living downtown. The closest elementary school to the proposed project is Ainsworth, about a mile away in the Portland Heights neighborhood. Portland Public Schools has not built a new elementary facility since 1971, when Clarendon was constructed in north Portland. The school district does have plans, accord– ing to spokesman Lew Frederick, to build elementary schools in the growing Forest Heights area and the soon-to-be developed River District residential area just north of downtown. The likely site for the new school is directly across the street from the Helen Gordon Child Development Center, Portland State's laboratory preschool and day care program. The University is exploring the possibility, with Portland Public Schools, of making the new elementary school a campus laboratory for students in the School of Education. B uilding a housing structure that is physically linked to the school or connected via a courtyard is what makes the project unique. It would include from 110 to 270 units, many of them designed for young couples or couples with children. Street-level retail shops may also be incorporated into the structure. Rounding out the project would be 100 parking spaces. Such combination housing-school structures are common in Europe and in densely populated cities such as New York and San Francisco, but are rare in the Northwest. "This is exactly the type of project that Portland is looking to do," says architect David Hyman, associate principal of BOORA Architects. "This is right in line with such plans as Metro's 2040 Plan and the city of Portland's Central City 2000 plan to provide more affordable housing in the downtown core area." BOORA has been hired to provide principal architectural and design services for the project. The project would help PSU meet its goal for more student housing and parking, and would also help shape a northern entrance to the PSU campus. A proposed streetcar line running along 11th Avenue (see accompanying story) is also helping to bring promi– nence to this side of campus. "Housing is almost always the primary generator of other service businesses and activities in a neighborhood," says Hyman. "This project, coupled with the presence of the streetcar, could spur other development in the area." D ~ ... :I: u ~ L___ ___::___ ___::__-A-'-'-..M!lo___..;;I~ a To school by streetcar C onstruction of a streetcar line connecting Portland State to the Pearl District and northwest Portland is one step closer to reality. The U.S. Senate recently approved $6 million toward constructing the $40 million project. The new funding came about through the efforts of Oregon Sen. Mark 0. Hatfield. The proposed streetcar line would run from the residential and retail areas of northwest Portland (beginning at Good Samaritan Hosp ital) to PSU along 11th Avenue. This puts the line right next to the proposed elementary school and new housing project. Portland Streetcar Inc., a non– profit group of business and civic leaders, is working hard to raise additional private and public funding for the line, which it hopes to have running as early as 2000. FALL 1996 PSU MAGAZINE 29