As indicated earlier the City is considering a request to rename Broadway, 39th or Grand Avenue in honor of Cesar Chavez. For information on the entire process please scroll down to the bottom of this message. Thanks to one of the historians living in our neighborhood, we have some information on the history of the name, Grand Avenue (Please see below.) The next step in the process regarding the potential renaming of these streets will be the opportunity to testify before a specially created Historian Panel that will consider the appropriateness of the nominee and the historical significance of the current street names. This panel will hold a series of public hearings:
March 23, 6:00-9:00: Grand (Location: Metro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand)
March 30, 6:00-9:00: Broadway (Location: Metro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand)
April 6, 6:00-9:00: 39th (Location: Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy)
HISTORICAL INFORMATION ON GRAND AVENUEFrom: ballestrem@gmail.com
Val Ballestrem points out that ….” even though it isn’t tied to a person, the name Grand Avenue does have historic significance, otherwise the historic district that bears the name Grand, wouldn’t be so named.”Grand Avenue Historic Information – most of this information comes from the 1990 National Register Historic District nomination for the East Portland Grand Avenue Historic District.
* Grand Avenue, along with Union (now MLK) were the main thoroughfares through the separate city of East Portland .
* Grand Avenue was a primary north-south streetcar route
* 1990 National Register Historic District nomination refers to Grand Avenue as “the commercial spine” of the district.
* The significance of the East Portland Grand Avenue Historic District is its history and the theme behind the district nomination is commerce. Grand Avenue was one of the two major streets in the district; the other Union Avenue has already been renamed.
* The district can be defined by the historic commercial and community activities of Grand Avenue.
* “The East Portland Grand Avenue Historic District is significant for its historical origins as the commercial center of what was once the City of East Portland.”
* “Between 1883 and 1915Å Grand Avenue and adjacent streets developed into a fully articulated community business centerÅ Grand Avenue emerged as the major north-south streetcar artery linking the Madison, Morrison, and Burnside bridges.”
* Construction of the Weatherly Building (1928) points out the continued role of Grand Avenue as a community business center.
* “Grand Avenue was the first north-south street that was high enough to avoid problems of bridging and trestlingÅ Grand Avenue quickly became the artery used by horse cars and then by electric streetcars”
* The heart of the district is clearly defined by the commercial buildings erected in the 1880s-90s along Grand Avenue from Morrison to Oak Street.
* Grand Avenue was the location of the annual Rose Festival Children’s parade.
* “It [5th] was changed to Grand Avenue in 1893 at the request of aspiring East Siders who wanted their main commercial artery to have more imposing name.” From Eugene Snyder’s Portland Names and Neighborhoods: Their Historic Origins Binford & Mort, 1979.
Val
City of Portland
Update on Street Renaming
The City of Portland’s Office of Transportation advises that the City Auditor has verified enough signatures to validate the application of the Cesar E. Chavez Committee. The committee has nominated Broadway, 39th, or Grand as candidates for renaming. A formal process will begin soon. This process is described in Portland City Code Chapter 17.93.
Though it was adopted almost 20 years ago, this process has never been used to rename a city street. The code creates a Historian Panel to consider the appropriateness of the nominee and the historical significance of the current street names.This panel will hold a series of public hearings:
March 23, 6:00-9:00: Grand (Location: Metro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand)
March 30, 6:00-9:00: Broadway (Location: Metro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand)
April 6, 6:00-9:00: 39th (Location: Hollywood Theater, 4122 NE Sandy)
In addition, the City Engineer will formally notify neighborhood and business associations that they have 45 days to submit written comments (in addition to their testimony to the Historian Panel) and the City Auditor will send a postcard survey to owners and occupants of property along the three streets.
You can get more information on the City’s website at www.portlandonline.com. To get to the Street
Renaming page, go to “Government”, then “Special Projects,” then “Cesar Chavez Street Renaming Process.”