The wait is nearly over…on Wednesday August 28th Eliot Neighborhood will finally have a full sized grocery store. New Seasons Market Williams store will open their doors at 7:00 am followed by a celebration.
City Delays Projects, Sets Timelines
Dawson Park
The Portland Parks Department has finally set a timeline for the Dawson Park renovations. After several years of process starting in 2010, the Portland Parks Department is ready to move forward. In September, Dawson Park will be completely closed. The park will go through extensive renovations that will include removing and replacing several paths through the park, replacing a number of game tables, and removing eight (8) trees while pruning several others.
City Council approves rezoning request
by Alise Munson
On Thursday, June 27, Portland City Council approved developer Ben Kaiser’s request to rezone his property between NE Cook Street and NE Fremont Street on North Williams Avenue to RX (Central Residential) zone. This decision is the first step in building the BackBridge Lofts, a 100-unit residential development with commercial use on the ground floor.
How Tall is 85 Feet?
An Eliot Neighbor is planning to tether 100 balloons today and send them up 85 feet. Why? A development proposal for the west end of the block surrounded by Fremont, Williams and Ivy calls for a portion of the building on the Williams and Fremont corner to be 85 feet tall.
New Seasons Market Williams Avenue Job Fair
The New Season Market on the corner of Williams and Fremont is getting closer to opening – expected in September. As part of preparing for opening day, New Seasons Market is hosting a job fair, primarily for the new store, but possibly for others as well, on Friday June 28th.
Continue reading New Seasons Market Williams Avenue Job Fair
What’s Happening on North Williams?
You may have noticed the ‘Now Renting’ sign at the Albert just north of Fremont street or the dirt being pushed around just south of Fremont on the west side of N Williams for the future New Seasons Market. But these aren’t the biggest changes coming to our neighborhood avenue. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is in the process of applying for a $1 Million grant to make large changes in the right of way.
N Williams Open House
At their last two meetings, the North Williams Stakeholder Advisory Committee finalized a recommendation for a new design for North Williams Avenue. You are invited to review it at an Open House on Saturday, May 19th, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at Immaculate Heart Church (2926 N Williams, at Stanton). A flyer is attached.
The Future of North Williams Avenue
Over the past 14 months, a large group of citizens have spent 20-60 hours each planning and discussing the future of North Williams Avenue. This is a major thoroughfare through Eliot and inner North and Northeast Portland for people riding the bus, walking, bicycling and driving in motor vehicles. The street has historically been home to a dense urban neighborhood and is becoming that once again. In the interim, urban renewal projects and highway construction projects have demolished buildings on the street, displacing many residences and community businesses. Members of the community have spent significant time and energy rethinking the neighborhood with several key goals: encouraging a full-service grocery store, more employment centers for neighborhood residents and dense residential development to replace lost housing. In the coming period of housing and commercial development along N. Williams Avenue we are seeing many of these goals achieved.
These Are Our Streets!
Since it was platted by Edwin Russell, William Page, and George Williams in 1872, the city of Albina (now Eliot) was set up with a Manhattan-style grid with long east-west blocks that are 2.5 times as long as the north-south blocks. This, combined with the steep cliffs separating the neighborhood from the river made all the north and south streets important connections for a huge area north of Eliot over the last 140 years. In 1888, the Steel Bridge opened and life on the east side was booming. Electric streetcars started running over the bridge in 1889 on the original Albina line. In the early 1900s, streetcars ran up and down Williams and Union (now Martin Luther King, Jr.) Avenues. The speed limit before cars came along was 6mph, with streetcars allowed to go 12mph. Crossing the street was no big problem for the early residents of Albina.
From Vacant to Vibrant
If you have driven by the SE corner of Fremont and Williams lately, you can see that something very colorful and exciting is happening there.
It is the Boise Eliot Village Square and it will be a public market place with live music, theatre, gospel on Sunday’s and some democracy and educational forums as well. The public market will be open on Friday and Saturday 12-8 and Sunday 12-6.
Backbridge Lofts on Hold
At the Eliot Neighborhood Fall General Membership meeting October 8th it was announced the Backbridge Lofts and Backbridge Station projects are on hold.
Hill Block Then and Now
Hill Block 1910
The Hill Block Building was built by Charles H. Hill, Albina’s first mayor. Located at the corner of Russell and Williams it was at the center of the business district for Albina.
The Bakery Blocks
The June 28 inPortland section of The Oregonian has an article about major development at the northern edge of Eliot.
Developer Ben Kaiser has two projects in the works: BackBridge Station, a $14 million mixed-use development with 41 units on Fremont between Vancouver and Williams; and Backbridge Lofts, a 39-unit residential project at the southeast corner of Williams and Fremont.
Eliot Neighborhood 