City Council March 10th - Pilot Neighborhood Heritage Program

Real light Council agenda for tomorrow night.

A new program for Historic Neighborhoods and a proposed grant for crosswalk safety enforcement are among the topics.

Grant Neighbhorhood in Transition:
The lawn and fountain at Broadway Commons;
across the street on Broadway, a renovated four-square house

Probably the most interesting items touch on historic preservation. There's a new appointment to the Historic Landmarks Commission, and a brief report on a pilot program in the Grant Neighborhood.

Do you remember before Broadway Commons?

You might have noticed change in the Grant neighborhood in the last half-decade.  It's a neighborhood in transition.  There are great things about this and there are downsides. (You know, that whole "change" thing.)

One of the tools in balancing the old and the new has been historic districts.  Lately, though, they have seemed less popular because in return for tax breaks, they do impose on home and building owners additional fees and regulatory burdens.  Both the Fairmount and Grant neighborhoods have said "No" to their creation recently. On the other hand, the Court-Chemeketa Historic District has stopped deterioration in the neighborhood and in many ways the restoration of the Buchner House is the poster for its success.

Safeway's Movement in Town Tells us Lots about Salem's History

Well, Safeway was just sold!

Would you be surprised to learn that there was a downtown Safeway for a while in the building where Shryock's is today?

Maybe more than any other kind of store, grocery stores track and index our transportation system and neighborhood development patterns, from the smaller stores of the streetcar era, to the larger stores for the post-war car and suburb, and to the big-box store near the interstate we have today.

Safeway on corner of Court and Commercial, 1938
Salem Library Historic Photos

Behind that stucco-y moderne facade of Shyrock's is a very old building!

For more on this intersection and the buildings nearby, see the note on the Moose carnival of 1913.  And for one of those Cronise scans that you can just zoom and zoom in on, see the image here of the building long before the Safeway, when it was still surrounded by wooden structures.

There were several other early Safeways of a wholly different building type as well, including the motorcycle store at Market and Broadway and the Capital Market at 14th and State. (It's not clear, though, whether they were built as Safeways or were a local chain purchased by Safeway.)

East School (later Washington School), circa 1886
on the current site of the Safeway
between 12th/13th and Marion/Center
Salem Library Historic Photos

And of course the current Safeway replaced one of Salem's first big school buildings, completed in 1886 or 1887.  And that Safeway has been wholly remodeled at least once since it was built.

There are a lot of other grocery stores from the second half of the 20th century, too.

Prospect for Howard Hall Demolition, Movement on the Blind School?

On January 15th the Hospital submitted an application, not yet approved, to remove the historic designation for Howard Hall at the Blind School.

Gone?  Howard Hall at Church and Mission
as well as some 80 trees may be gone soon

The move is obviously a prelude to a demolition permit.

Some details on the proposed historic designation withdrawal

So there were multiple reasons, then, for the Hospital to attend last month's SCAN meeting and to talk about plans at the Blind School.

The draft minutes from the meeting are out, and they're worth quoting in full (though cited here in chunks somewhat reordered).  Interestingly, it seems possible that Howard Hall was incorrectly or inappropriately designated as an historic building.

Howard Hall (cannot be used by Salem Hospital)

• Howard Hall as a historic property. Kimberly Fitzgerald research indicated that letters written in 1989 and 1990 (State Department of Education) indicated Howard Hall might not be a historic building, but it was designated as such. Not clear if designation (a) follows building ownership (now the hospital) or (b) does the historic designation follow the property. This is an issue to be resolved with regard to ultimate disposition of Howard Hall.
• Requests For Proposals (RFP) for adaptive re-use resulted in no proposals offered
• Question: Has consideration been given to using older portion of Howard Hall incorporated into rehabilitation area? No, given existing condition of the building.
• Question: Has consideration been given to keeping the façade of Howard Hall along Mission Street?
• Question: Could Howard Hall be renovated to be a Hospitality House? No. Not structured for family occupancy.
• Plans exist for outdoor space to (1) commemorate School for Blind, (2) provide for outdoor therapy space and (3) provide an adaptive playground for those undergoing physical therapy. Will incorporate curbs, sand, grass, uneven pavement, etc.
• Adaptive playground will be open to all children; it won’t be fenced in

A previous iteration from last summer:  All about parking.
It's not clear how much the latest plan conforms to this one.
 (Howard Hall in lower left)

In the overall plan, parking remains central:

Penalosa Video, New Bike Club Initiative, Salemis on Bikes, Parks Maintenance: Newsbits

Gil Penalosa 8-80 Cities Talk

ICYMI - The full talk for Gil Penalosa's visit on sustainable cities for the young and the old.



New Salem Bicycle Club Committee on Safety and Education

In February, the board of the Salem Bicycle Club approved a new club committee and appointed three members.  From the March Spokes:

SBC Safety/ Education Committee: The Salem Bicycle Club actively promotes bike safety to cyclist, local governments’ public entities. Doug [Parrow] is working with local safety agencies, Oregon Parks and Recreation and with Marion County Sheriff’s office to improve bike routes and the enforcement of laws protecting cyclists....Hersch [Sangster] is on the Traffic Safety/Bikeways/Pedestrian Committee and Planning Commission in Keizer and is on the Salem-Keizer Transit Budget Committee and is a bicycle advisor for them. Kiki Sangster is active in doing education on Safe Routes to School with ODOT Traffic Safety and is connected with Salem-Keizer Schools....Doug has an incident report form that will be available through the Club’s website that cyclists can use to report safety related incidents. These reports will help the Committee in reporting and discussing safety issues with agencies and in doing education. Doug and Hersch will develop goals for the Board to review in the future.

More from Salemis on Ray Youngberg

You might remember the story about Ray Youngberg and his great collection of bike memorabilia.  Over at Salemis, Sarah says that she loved Ray's stories so much she had to write a follow-up about Ray's life:

At age 40, he entered the competitive scene again in the veterans age group. He took third in the Oregon state championship one year, second the next, and first place the following year...

He also “got the bug,” as he describes it, to ride from Portland to Salt Lake City again. He made the trip three more times: in 1976, 1985 and 1987. The last time, at age 52, he decided to see how fast he could do it, so he joined the UltraMarathon Cycling Association to help him train.

He started out from Portland City Hall at midnight with a small caravan of vehicles following him. He rode night and day, taking half-hour breaks for sleep every so often. He pulled in to the city hall in Salt Lake City just 64 hours and 40 minutes after he started the route — an official city-to-city record that still stands.

New Parks vs. Park Maintenance

When it was first posted online last night, the headline "With Riverfront Park expansion on horizon, how's the city going to balance caring for older parks?" was much better!

Remember bridges and streets, too!

From the piece:

Salem’s park system is growing. Construction of a $10 million Minto Island Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge is expected to begin this summer. The city has a pending $2 million deal to buy 3.8 acres of property for an expansion of Riverfront Park.

But as the city pushes forward with its vision of green jewels along the waterfront, could it be in danger of neglecting its older parks?

During discussions about a park bond in 2009, which never made it to the ballot, the city identified $8 million to $12 million in repairs and renovations as priority projects.

“If we have an Achilles’ heel, it’s that some of our facilities are getting old,” said Mark Becktel, parks and transportation services manager. The 2009 estimate of the most needed repairs hasn’t been updated, he said.

Operations, maintenance, and preservation, I tell you! One commenter points out the use of prison labor, a modern "chain gang," in our parks. Some others use the problem as a wedge for criticism of the Minto Bridge.  Still others talk about the proposed Police Station and Third Bridge.

From State of Salem's Streets report

Yes, we're widening roads and expanding capacity when we can't maintain what we already have.

It's a deep problem that money for new stuff is too often easier to find than money to keep and maintain existing things.

West Salem Urban Renewal Board to see Bond Sidewalk Project

The West Salem Urban Renewal Area advisory board meets tomorrow and one of the items is an update on a bond project for "missing sidewalks and bike lanes to schools and parks."

Gerth at 8th St NW, looking towards 9th and the Boys and Girls Club

Formally titled the West Salem Redevelopment Advisory Board, WSRAB will see concept details on a part of Gerth Street NW.

This section of Gerth Street NW lacks sidewalks and connects to the Boys and Girls Club building adjacent to Walker Middle School. (The club can be seen behind the pickup on the left side of the street above.)

Plan view of sidewalk, curbs, and storm drains on Gerth at 8th
(click to enlarge or see meeting packet)

I don't know anything about the local conditions, but this is interesting because Gerth dead-ends here, and it's hard to see that through-traffic on the street would be much of a problem. This looks like traffic is already calmed and the kind of street it's just fine to walk in - so does it really need this tiny segment of full sidewalks? Or is this a problem area during the very narrow window of drop-off and pick-up before and after school.  Is this a partial solution to what is really a parental auto queuing mess?

It's also interesting as a dinky, one-block segment, orphaned from other connections.

Just Walk: SWAN Announces Daily Walks and Special Walks

The Southwest Association of Neighbors (SWAN) has announced the schedule of neighborhood walks for this coming year - and there's more!

This is great to see. 

Just Walk 2014 posters

Just Walk 2014 posters

The schedule includes:

Weekly Walk Events

• Mon, Thurs, & Sat 9:30 am: Judson Middle School, Barbara Gordon
• Mon 12:00 pm: Just Walk! with Project ABLE, 1599 State St
• Wed 9:00 am: Minto Brown Dog Park, Walk with a City Councilor, Warren Bednarz/Jeanine Stice
• Walk with Ease (beginning March 12): Salem Hospital Building D, Community Education Center [not sure of the time or recurrence]
• Thurs 12:15 pm: LifeSource Natural Foods
• Sat 9:00 am: Minto Brown, last parking lot, Chemeketans
• Sun 12:15: LifeSource Natural Foods

2014 Special Events

• Saturday, May 10, 10:00 am: LifeSource Spring Celebration Walk (free barbeque, food, and music!)
• July Date TBA: Walk with a Farmer at Minto Island Growers
• Sunday, September 14, 9:00 am: Westminster Presbyterian Church
• Saturday, October 11, 10:00 am: LifeSource Fall Celebration Walk (free barbeque, food, and music)

That's a walk on almost every day! I like the idea of the "Walk with a City Councilor," though I wish it were on City streets rather than on park land. It would be nice to leverage the walks as a way to highlight missing sidewalks and difficult intersections. Maybe next year. Or maybe a Councilor in a different ward would start another walk.

The prominent placement of the cemetery in the posters is also notable, and perhaps more walking in the cemetery will galvanize citizen interest in a gate on the north side of the cemetery.

Anyway, lots to like!

Grilling ConnectOregon Links: It's Sausage Time at Area Commission on Transportation

It's not just the Legislature whose activities sometimes might look like making sausage!

The evaluation process on applications for the lottery-funded ConnectOregon V program is underway. On Thursday the Mid-Willamette Valley Area Commission on Transportation meets and a large item of interest will be the update and overview of the local applications and the administrative process for reviewing them.  Also on the agenda is an update on the draft 2015-2018 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (all 244pp here).

Also, last month the parent Oregon Transportation Commission met and there's interesting news about several plans there.

ConnectOregon V at MWACT

The Kroc Center Path and the Lottery

Maybe most interesting - but to be clear, not the most important - element in the application process is the packet on the Kroc Center path.

The Salvation Army declined to address gambling

It contains the letter of support for the Kroc Center path written by the Salvation Army.

Buy a lottery ticket,
Support a path

Here again is what the Salvation Army has to say on gambling:

The Salvation Army is opposed to gambling. The nature of gambling lends itself to exploitative, deceptive and manipulative practices. It is contrary to Christian principles of love, freedom from oppression and concern for others.

As such it should not be a means of income generation or economic development, whether by government agencies, charitable organisations, churches or commercial interests....

Gambling is becoming increasingly common and accessible, often promoted and enabled by governments. Gambling may be large and sophisticated – such as lotteries, casinos, slot machines, online gambling or sports betting – or small and loosely organised informal games of chance. [italics added]

It's really hard to see how this stance can be consistent with the lottery and video-poker funding mechanism behind ConnectOregon.

At the same time, a different source of funding will be pursued if this one doesn't work out, and it's not like this project couldn't have switched places with a different project on another funding track.  So again, this isn't that important, but it's very interesting as a measure of how screwed up is the whole Kroc Center siting and total funding package.

Scoring and the Evaluation Process - Biased for Air and Rail?

More important, but not very interesting at all, is the preliminary scoring on the local projects.