Update: December 4, 2024
The Wells Modernization Public Design Workshop scheduled for Sunday, December 8, 2024, has been cancelled.
Following a December 2 meeting to discuss the bond that will pay for the modernization of Wells, Cleveland, and Jefferson high schools, the Portland school district has paused the public planning process.
The price tag for upgrading the three schools had grown to as much as $450 million per school.
In an email dated December 4, PPS Project Manager Donna Bezio said that the district has decided to pause "current work on the projects" and "focus on preparing options for design, schedule and budget."
The goal is to bring the costs down to $360 million per school, which is more in line with recent modernization projects.
The total bond amount remains the same at $1.1 billion. By reducing the cost for the three high schools, PPS hopes to have money left over from the bond to pay for deferred maintenance, athletic fields, and education and technology improvements.
The email also said that the PPS superintendent and board of directors plan to build new high schools that meet "the academic, social and extracurricular needs of students." This is presumably a reference to the framework for school modernizations laid out in a document approved in 2013 and known as the "Ed Specs," or education specifications.
At the December 2 meeting, board member Andrew Scott stressed that Wells, Cleveland, and Jefferson are not being removed from the bond. Instead, he said that the new lower numbers represent a "target" for costs.
The district plans to refer the bond to the ballot in 2025.
All upcoming scheduled meetings of the Wells Design Advisory Group and the December 8 public design workshop have been canceled.
[November 22, 2024]
Modernization Planning Update
In May 2024, Portland Public Schools (PPS) approved a design for the new Wells campus that includes an entirely new building, relocated playing fields, and re-orientation of the sports stadium. The public swimming pool, owned and operated by Portland Parks and Recreation, will stay where it is.
Students will remain in the old building during construction, with athletic programs relocated to Jackson Middle School. Hoffman Construction Company has been selected to build the new campus.
If voters approve a PPS bond in May 2025, construction could begin in 2026 with students moving into the new building in the fall of 2028. Construction of athletic fields is expected to take an additional year, with a projected completion date of 2029.
What’s Next
The current phase of design focuses on outdoor spaces, building facade and interior spaces, and placement of the stadium grandstands.
Among many details still to be worked out are the amount of parking on the new campus and whether the Hillsdale Farmers’ Market will stay in its current location in the Rieke parking lot during construction.
Parking
Planners say that building new parking lots to city code will result in a decrease of parking spaces of about 25%, or the elimination of around 100 spots. Local residents say that even at current levels of parking availability, their neighborhoods suffer from the overspill of student parking, creating unsafe conditions for pedestrians.
“There are only two days when pedestrians feel safe” in the Wilson Park neighborhood, says Linda Venti: “Saturday and Sunday.”
After discussing the issue with planners at the September 22nd public workshop, Wells neighbor Sally Gray came away with the impression that the loss of parking will have a major impact on the surrounding neighborhood. PPS’s plans to encourage students to take the bus, bicycle, or carpool to school are not adequate to address the issues, she says, stating, "Eliminating parking for approximately 100 cars shifts the burden to neighborhoods adjacent to the high school. Pushing more cars to the streets, many of which don't have sidewalks, will impact already clogged streets and create safety issues already happening across the neighborhoods.”
Business owners in the Hillsdale commercial district are also worried that less parking on campus will mean more students parking in spaces designated for customers, and families living in areas with poor TriMet service to the high school may want to weigh in on the options for parking once their driving-age students get to campus.
Hillsdale Farmers’ Market
Without careful planning, construction threatens major disruption for the Farmers’ Market. Farmers’ Market co-manager Lacey Waldon says that while the architects and PPS staff have committed to space for the market upon completion of the rebuild, whether it will be able to stay in its current location during construction is unknown, and she has so far received no assurances.
If the parking lot is repurposed as a staging ground for equipment and materials, the market would have to move. Waldon says the market might not survive the expense and logistics of relocation. If it did, it might not be able to move back after the 2-3 years construction is expected to take.
A move, Waldon says, “would be a devastating blow to our small nonprofit market and to the community that depends on us. We can use all the community support we can get to encourage decision makers to keep the parking lot available for the Farmer’s Market throughout the construction process.”
The December 8 design workshop offers an opportunity to learn more and provide feedback.
—Valeurie Friedman
Do you have concerns about parking or the future of the Farmers' Market with the Wells rebuild? Let us know.