Rockwood

Spring 2023 Newsletter "Diversity, Harmony, Community - Together 'WE' can make a difference!”

Read it now!

Spring 2023 Newsletter Inside This Issue: New Play Structure Nadaka Park City Replaces LED Streetlights Urban Forestry in Gresham Caught on Camera WENA Board Elections March 13th

Download your copy here. (includes active web links)

¡Descargue nuestro boletín en español aquí!. (incluye enlaces web activos)

Newsletters are a regular publication of the Wilkes East Neighborhood Association. They are hand-delivered to over 1,500 residences and businesses in our area 3 times per year, timed to correspond with our general meetings.

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Summer Meeting Notice Bring Your Blanket or Chair! When: Mon Aug 8, 2022 7PM-8:30PM Where: Columbia View Park (next to HB Lee Middle School parking lot) 1000 NE 169th Ave Get Map!

Neighborhood Everyone's Invited

Join Your Neighbors. Get involved. Make a difference!

Save the date
Be sure to save Monday Aug 8th at 7PM for the Wilkes East Neighborhood 2022 Summer Meeting, outdoor at Columbia View Park, 1000 NE 169th Ave (next to HB Lee Middle School parking lot). Bring your blanket or chair!

Agenda

• Travis Gullberg, Gresham Police Chief
• Steve Fancher, Gresham parks update
  View the 2022 Arbor Day Tree Planting map at Columbia View park here.
• Jay Higgins, Gresham's newest bike route
• Neighborhood news and more!

Download the March 2022 meeting minutes here!

Who should attend?
Participation is open to all residents who live, own property or a business, organization, church or government agency within our boundaries

Be Part Of Your Community. Plan To Attend.

Watch for these red & white Meeting Signs the week before our meeting. The signs were purchased with assistance of the City of Gresham Neighborhood Grant Program, and with volunteer hours to set them out and retrieve them. Signs Now NW also made a generous contribution to this project.

Mark your calendar. See you there!

Questions or comments?
Contact Wilkes East Neighborhood by email at info@wilkeseastna.org, or by postal mail to: Wilkes East Neighborhood, 17104 NE Oregon St, Portland Oregon 97230

When: Sun, Apr 03, 2022 1PM-5PM
Where: Rockwood Market Hall
Get Map!

The People's Market at Rockwood hosted by Play Grow Learn will showcase goods from vendors of all cultures. Produce and homemade goods from local Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) producers and growers will be featured, as well as:

• Healers who specialize in food and herb wellness
• Healthy services
• Farm-to-table meals and snacks
• Local organizations led by or serving BIPOC communities
• Double dollars offered on fresh produce items with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefit Transfer (SNAP/EBT).

During the cooler months, the market will operate inside the Rockwood Market Hall. During the warmer months, it will extend outdoors into the public plaza and will feature nearly 40 vendors.

Get there

• MAX: the Rockwood Market Hall is located just south of the Rockwood / East 188th MAX stop and is accessible on foot from both SE 185th and SE 187th avenues.
• Bus: a half block north of the TriMet Line 20, SE 187th and Stark bus stop.
• Drive: street parking is available nearby and parking is available in the Sunrise Center parking lot located just east of the 187th and Burnside intersection at 18901 E. Burnside St.

For more information, contact Germaine Flentroy, Market Coordinator, at 503-719-1821 or gflentroypgl@gmail.com.

When: Sun, Apr 10, 2022 1PM-5PM
Where: Rockwood Market Hall
Get Map!

The People's Market at Rockwood hosted by Play Grow Learn will showcase goods from vendors of all cultures. Produce and homemade goods from local Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) producers and growers will be featured, as well as:

• Healers who specialize in food and herb wellness
• Healthy services
• Farm-to-table meals and snacks
• Local organizations led by or serving BIPOC communities
• Double dollars offered on fresh produce items with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefit Transfer (SNAP/EBT).

During the cooler months, the market will operate inside the Rockwood Market Hall. During the warmer months, it will extend outdoors into the public plaza and will feature nearly 40 vendors.

Get there

• MAX: the Rockwood Market Hall is located just south of the Rockwood / East 188th MAX stop and is accessible on foot from both SE 185th and SE 187th avenues.
• Bus: a half block north of the TriMet Line 20, SE 187th and Stark bus stop.
• Drive: street parking is available nearby and parking is available in the Sunrise Center parking lot located just east of the 187th and Burnside intersection at 18901 E. Burnside St.

For more information, contact Germaine Flentroy, Market Coordinator, at 503-719-1821 or gflentroypgl@gmail.com.

When: Sun, Apr 17, 2022 1PM-5PM
Where: Rockwood Market Hall
Get Map!

The People's Market at Rockwood hosted by Play Grow Learn will showcase goods from vendors of all cultures. Produce and homemade goods from local Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) producers and growers will be featured, as well as:

• Healers who specialize in food and herb wellness
• Healthy services
• Farm-to-table meals and snacks
• Local organizations led by or serving BIPOC communities
• Double dollars offered on fresh produce items with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefit Transfer (SNAP/EBT).

During the cooler months, the market will operate inside the Rockwood Market Hall. During the warmer months, it will extend outdoors into the public plaza and will feature nearly 40 vendors.

Get there

• MAX: the Rockwood Market Hall is located just south of the Rockwood / East 188th MAX stop and is accessible on foot from both SE 185th and SE 187th avenues.
• Bus: a half block north of the TriMet Line 20, SE 187th and Stark bus stop.
• Drive: street parking is available nearby and parking is available in the Sunrise Center parking lot located just east of the 187th and Burnside intersection at 18901 E. Burnside St.

For more information, contact Germaine Flentroy, Market Coordinator, at 503-719-1821 or gflentroypgl@gmail.com.

When: Fri, Apr 22, 2022 9AM-12PM
Where: Main City Park
219 South Main Ave.
Get Map!

Celebrate Earth Day with us at Main City Park. In partnership with the Johnson Creek Watershed Council, we will mulch the trees and shrubs volunteers have planted over the past two years.

No experience is needed. Children are welcome to participate with an accompanying adult. Dress for the weather and bring your water bottle.

Instruction, tools and gloves will be provided.

RSVP today

Covid safety: A mask or face-covering is recommended during check-in and at any time when six feet of physical distancing is not possible.

Contact

Marissa Eckman, Johnson Creek Watershed Council at 503-652-7477, extension 107.

Johnson Creek Watershed Council

When: Sun, Apr 24, 2022 1PM-5PM

Where: Rockwood Market Hall
Get Map!

The People's Market at Rockwood hosted by Play Grow Learn will showcase goods from vendors of all cultures. Produce and homemade goods from local Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) producers and growers will be featured, as well as:

• Healers who specialize in food and herb wellness
• Healthy services
• Farm-to-table meals and snacks
• Local organizations led by or serving BIPOC communities
• Double dollars offered on fresh produce items with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/Electronic Benefit Transfer (SNAP/EBT).

During the cooler months, the market will operate inside the Rockwood Market Hall. During the warmer months, it will extend outdoors into the public plaza and will feature nearly 40 vendors.

Get there

• MAX: the Rockwood Market Hall is located just south of the Rockwood / East 188th MAX stop and is accessible on foot from both SE 185th and SE 187th avenues.
• Bus: a half block north of the TriMet Line 20, SE 187th and Stark bus stop.
• Drive: street parking is available nearby and parking is available in the Sunrise Center parking lot located just east of the 187th and Burnside intersection at 18901 E. Burnside St.

For more information, contact Germaine Flentroy, Market Coordinator, at 503-719-1821 or gflentroypgl@gmail.com.

Spring Meeting Notice When: Mon Mar 14, 2022 7PM-8:30PM Where: Online meeting via Zoom (Zoom Link Coming Soon) (New to Zoom? Go to https://zoom.us/join) Dial-in Zoom +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 864 2480 4501 Passcode: 061657

Neighborhood Meeting, Everyone's Invited

Join Your Neighbors. Get involved. Make a difference!

Save the date
Be sure to save Monday Mar 14th at 7PM for the Wilkes East Neighborhood 2022 Spring Meeting.

Agenda

• Downtown Rockwood update.
     Emily Bower, City of Gresham
• NE 172nd Avenue concerns.
  Clackamas to Columbia Project (181st Ave).
     Chris Strong, City of Gresham
     Transportation Division Manager
• Q & A
• Neighborhood news and more

Who should attend?
Participation is open to all residents who live, own property or a business, organization, church or government agency within our boundaries

Be Part Of Your Community. Plan To Attend.

Watch for these red & white Meeting Signs the week before our meeting. The signs were purchased with assistance of the City of Gresham Neighborhood Grant Program, and with volunteer hours to set them out and retrieve them. Signs Now NW also made a generous contribution to this project.

Mark your calendar. See you there!

Questions or comments?
Contact Wilkes East Neighborhood by email at info@wilkeseastna.org, or by postal mail to: Wilkes East Neighborhood, 17104 NE Oregon St, Portland Oregon 97230

Congressman Earl Blumenaur and Gresham Mayor Travis Stovall tour Downtown Rockwood in 2021

By Emily Bower, Executive Director, City of Gresham

In 2003, Gresham voters approved the establishment of the Rockwood-West Gresham Urban Renewal Area authorizing the investment of $92 million into a 1,211 acre area in West Gresham. However, the urban renewal area will expire in 2023. This would leave approximately $37 million unutilized dollars due to delays from the Great Recession in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Gresham proposes extending the urban renewal district to 2029. The extra six years would allow the City to invest approximately $37 million in new projects and to continue funding projects in the Rockwood-West Gresham Renewal area. To date, urban renewal has brought in new development, businesses, schools, after-school youth programs, helped with storefront grants and apartment restoration. With a little more time, imagine the projects that could be tackled in the future – using money that is already set aside.

Urban renewal does not increase your property taxes.

How it works:

• It dedicates funds to an identified neighborhood so a city’s urban renewal agency can focus on improving the area.
• It is often used to provide infrastructure to help spur economic development.
• Urban renewal changes how the existing taxes paid on a property are divided out amongst different taxing districts like the City and Multnomah County.

• As public and private investment stimulates growth in the district and the value of properties improve, money becomes available to use on the projects.
• Urban renewal in Gresham can provide funding for projects sooner.

Boys and Girls Club, Rockwood ribbon cutting. Funded through Rockwood West-Gresham Renewal Plan. Photo: City of Gresham

For more information on this effort go to: https://greshamoregon.gov/Urban-Renewal/

Construction progress, Rockwood Market Hall. Photo: City of Gresham

By Emily Bower, Executive Director, City of Gresham

Following the opening of The Lumen Building in 2021, this Spring the City of Gresham and the Gresham Redevelopment Commission is excited to announce the opening of The Downtown Rockwood Market Hall.

The Market Hall will be a 39,000-square-foot indoor marketplace and will feature local, fresh and ethnic food alongside handmade, artisanal goods. There will be micro-restaurants and micro-retail stores, ethnic groceries, a commissary kitchen for rent with cold storage, and office space. The Market Hall plans for a soft opening in March with an open air pop-up market hosted by The People’s Market.

Diverse vendors of all cultures will be showcasing their goods during this market. Visit peoplesmarketrockwood.org for more information. A formal grand opening will follow in early May. The Market Hall is already 80% occupied with tenants. Space remains available for market grocers, a coffee shop and office tenants.

Oregon Tradeswomen building completed 2020. Photo: City of Gresham

Learn more about leasing opportunities at downtownrockwood.com or email info@downtownrockwood.com.