NW “Digging deep, p. 3 p. 11 p. 12 COVID meets Shining a light” Vision with Surprise Civic no strings high-rise Life assignment INSIDE INSIDE JANUARY 2021/ VOLUME 34, NO. 5 FREE SERVING PORTLAND’S NORTHWEST NEIGHBORHOODS SINCE 1986 nwexaminer Pearl volunteers find ever-smaller ways to help Cigarette butts collected, counted, turned into household products BY ALLAN CLASSEN household products. ortland’s “city that The program was launched works” slogan may draw by Pearl resident Dave Mitchell, Pmore scoffs than salutes who saw a cigarette recepta- these days, but one corner of cle in a freeway rest stop in the dominion is doing its part. California in 2016 and thought The Pearl District Neighborhood something like it was needed Association has been picking up in his own neighborhood. His trash, painting over graffiti, pro- research eventually led him to viding pet waste stations and a New Jersey firm called Ter- patrolling its streets on its own raCycle, which not only sold dime for more than a decade, and receptacles but operated a com- its mission keeps expanding. prehensive program employed The association’s latest liva- in Seattle, Pittsburgh, and other bility initiative—collecting cig- cities around the United States arette butts—may be the purest and Canada. example to date of identifying Mitchell was off to a good Linda Witt (L-R), Chris Mackovjak, Tom Biller, John Gillette and James Gulick ready for duty. Other a problem, crafting a solution, start, but the city that works regulars on the Pearl District Neighborhood Association Cigarette Butt team not pictured are Walter raising private dollars and then didn’t make his job easy. It took Kuncio, David Mitchell and Judie Dunken. Photo by Nathan Jundt creating an ongoing program to almost a year to get approv- fix it. To top it off, the used butts al from the city to mount the 100 of them across the district. City Concern workers empty the are shipped off to a plant in Chi- receptacles on sidewalk sign bins on a weekly basis. cago, where they are remanufac- posts. The receptacles aren’t Progress stalled when it tured into backpacks for chil- cheap—$100—so PDNA had to was learned that it would cost PDNA’s broad shoulders came dren, shopping bags and other raise about $10,000 to spread $25,000 a year to have Central to the rescue. The association Continued on page 6 Bridge to Forest Park appeals to Montgomery Park developer BY ALLAN CLASSEN state 405 later this month. edestrian bridges are And developers of Mont- big in Portland these gomery Park envision a Pdays. A year ago, the pedestrian bridge over Barbara Walker Crossing Northwest Wardway Street taking the Wildwood Trail to connect residents, work- over West Burnside Street ers and tourists to a prom- was dedicated with danc- ised urban hub near the For- ers, dignitaries and music. est Park entrance at Lower Crowds are expected to Macleay Park. watch cranes raise the span “We understand the real of the long-awaited Flan- benefit to creating a public ders Crossing over Inter- gateway to Forest Park that Continued on page 5 Fryer’s Quality Pie Shop - circa 1980s Of Characters and Cream Pies -When Salvation Was Just Down the Street BY HARRY CUMMINS To true believers and searchers years ago. It describes an all-night n 1992, despite a fevered cult- alike, this brightly lit coffee shop odyssey, an assignment filled like following, Fryer’s Qual- with the rotating sign out front with characters and cream pies, ity Pie Shop on the corner was a spellbinding beacon in and if it weren’t for my stained I the Northwest night, a veritable reporter’s notebook in front of me, of Northwest 23rd and Marshall. shuttered its doors forever. Once lost and found department for the I could not actually swear it really a neighborhood’s all-night thera- human spirit. For over 50 years, happened in just the way I am py and redemption emporium, it the “QP” was a place where peo- about to tell. ple found much more than the has remained vacant ever since. 8:30 P.M. marquee or menu claimed. Some say society’s current ills can I walk through the front door be directly traced to its demise, What follows is a retelling of a and notice a man with a flashlight and to places just like it all across true account, first appearing in peering into a plastic cage. Like America. the pages of the NW Examiner 33 Continued on page 14 SW Park Place SW Fairview Circus NW Thurman St SW 18th Place NW Thurman St NW Vaughn St Victor Noble Jones NW 22nd Ave Roberts and Roberts Architect Marvin Witt Architect 1910 Craftsman Duplex Frank Blachly Architect David Giulietti Architect Emil Schacht Architect Architects SE Franklin St SW Cheltenham Ct NW Savier St NW Cornell Road Richmond Mid-century 1861 The Governor SE 25th Ave NW Thurman St Jamieson Parker NW Thurman St John Virginius Bennes Ranch Curry House Lady Grace Emil Schacht Architect Architect Thurman Street Lofts Architect If you got a new neighbor on your street in 2020, chances are The Dan Volkmer Team found them. The top 10 list for why working with The Dan Volkmer Team “ SE Rex St NW Roosevelt St is the right choice: New 2008 – 100% 1904 Slabtown Victorian 10. You guys know what you're 5. You set a strategy and execute Recycled Materials doing and it shows accordingly 9. You inspire confidence that 4. You like to win the house will sell successfully as 3. You know the market and you a result convey its advantages, disadvan- 8. You push on things that you tages with honesty and integrity know are important and let go of 2. You have a well-oiled things that are less so machine, working together to SE 35th Place NW Raleigh St NW 27th Ave 7. You know how to listen bring the deal home Hawthorne SW Fairview Blvd Sean Becker's House Rooftop Rowhouses 6. You do your homework and 1. You had my house under con- Rowhouse Wade Pipes Architect present the data, not the dream tract in 10 days with a bidding (i.e., pricing, realistic assess- war as you said you would when ments, etc.) you presented the strategy In short, you and your team made selling my house an easy process, and it was a pleasure working with you. You said what you were going to do, you did it, the house sold, and we are all happy! SE 29th Ave Many thanks, Dan! Happy Holidays to you and your team. NW Kearney St SW 58th Ave 1910 Sunnyside Best regards, Jill NE Graham St 1890 Alphabet Sylvan Crest Townhomes Craftsman ” Graham Street Commons District Craftsman NW Hoyt St NW Thurman St NW Cornell Road NW Seblar Terrace Herman Trenkmann 1906 Once Home to SW Highland Pkwy NW Johnson St NW Wilson St 3.2 Acre Forest Park Orgo & Olson – Street House restored by Michelle Russo & 1970s Pacific NW 1904 Whidden and 1906 Slab Town Retreat of Dreams Architects William Jameson Sally Haley Contemporary Lewis Architects Dutch Colonial NE 18th Ave NW 32nd Ave NE Tillamook St NW Northrup St SW Westwood Dr Meticulous Restoration of William Christmas Yellow Diamond NW Aspen Ave SW Scenic Drive 1907 Craftsman in Jack P. Reverman Built on an Irvington Craftsman Knighton Architect in Eliot Green Gables Design Vista Hills Modern The Golden Triangle Terwilliger Heights NW Hoyt St SW Davenport St SE Grant St NW Marshall St NW Johnson St NW Johnson St 1885 Joseph Bergman NE Graham St 1964 Contemporary Richmond Craftsman Alphabet District 1907 Cohn-Sichel Tanner Place House – Bosco Milligan 1905 Irvington Victorian Portland Heights Revival Brownstone Residence Condominiums NW Monte Vista Terrace NW Westover Terrace NW 12th Ave 1938 French – Normandy NW Flanders St Westover Terraces Condominiums The MacKenzie Lofts Keppinger Restoration The Embassy Condominiums Specializing in Historic & Architecturally Significant Homes THE DAN VOLKMER TEAM DAN VOLKMER PRINCIPAL BROKER BURDEAN BARTLEM, KISHRA OTT, MARDI DAVIS & FRITZ BENZ BROKERS LICENSED IN THE STATE OF OREGON 503-781-3366 See our website at www.danvolkmer.com Burdean, Dan, Mardi, and Kishra 2 Northwest Examiner, JANUARY 2021 / nwexaminer.com Editor’s Turn BY ALLAN CLASSEN | EDITOR & PUBLISHER A vision for sale ormer City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly a visioning process involving representatives of tried to wipe out Portland’s neighborhood the 11 neighborhood associations in the coalition. Fsystem. She lost the battle, despite fighting A summary of a board retreat held last January feverishly through her last month in office. Still, listed the need to “focus on the bigger picture” she may have won the war. rather than being “neighborhood association Portland’s neighborhood associations will con- focused.” tinue to exist, just as they did before the city inau- The document emphasized collaborating with gurated the pioneering Office of Neighborhood other kinds of organizations and adding board Involvement in 1975. But the unique mechanism seats for those not representing neighborhood and culture whereby the city funded the associa- associations. tions’ work at arm’s length to preserve their political independence has largely collapsed. One suggested goal for the coalition was to “reappropriate your privilege to benefit others.” I’m sorry, The idea that public funding could come with- The staff also recommended “center[ing] indige- out strings was dicey from the start. Like parents neighbors, but nous knowledge.” underwriting a college education for their off- my hands are spring while telling them they can be anything These were presented as discussion items, not tied.