Laurelwood Center Opening Next Week

What we have formerly referred to as the “Foster Shelter” has been officially named the Laurelwood Center. This is likely a reference to nearby Laurelwood Park, which, by the way, is getting a remake (see our prior coverage of that story here).

Maggie Vespa, a reporter for KGW News, was given a tour of Laurelwood Center yesterday and tweeted photos of the facility.

Representative from your Foster-Powell Neighborhood Association have been invited to tour the facility on Monday and learn about volunteer opportunities to support our new neighbors. Per Maggie’s Twitter post above, if you would like to volunteer, you can call 503.488.7745.

Update: here is a link to the full story from KGW.

Continue ReadingLaurelwood Center Opening Next Week

Foster the Phoenix Featured by KOIN

  • Post category:Foster Road

As we previously reported, the Phoenix Pharmacy building was sold with intentions of having the building refurbished and brought back to its former glory. We also learned recently that the owners have been awarded a Diamonds in the Rough grant from Oregon State Historic Preservation Office and Oregon Cultural Trust.

DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH grants are to restore or reconstruct the facades of buildings that have been heavily altered over the years. The purpose is to return them to their historic appearance and potentially qualify them for historic register designation (local or national).

Oregon Parks & Recreation Department: Oregon Heritage: Financial Assistance

Our board president and chair, Eric Furlong, can be seen in the video above talking about how the Foster-Powell Neighborhood Association can contribute to the efforts to restore this historic building. Go to KOIN’s website for the full story.

Continue ReadingFoster the Phoenix Featured by KOIN

Take the Laurelwood Park Survey

As we mentioned previously, Portland Park & Recreation is starting a project to implement the redesign of Laurelwood Park, which was completed with much community input back in 2013.

At this point, PP&R is looking for the surrounding community to provide some final guidance on any tweaks that could done to the design, including the planned public artwork, to ensure it aligns with the current desires of the neighborhood. This is where you come in! Please take this survey and provide your input to the process.

One of the key questions of the survey is “4. Thank you for participating in the redevelopment plan for Laurelwood Park. Your comments and experiences will help shape your new park. Is there anything else you would like us to know?” This is where we have an opportunity to impact that project with some fresh ideas!

For example, what about bringing a Portland LooTM to the park!? That would allow people to spend more time at the park and not have to worry about where to find restroom facilities (and not bother nearby businesses) and the Loos are easy to maintain and clean (and can’t get burnt and melted like what happened to the port-a-potty in Kern park recently).

Take the Survey!

Laurelwood Park Survey
Deadline is Monday, 22-July

Continue ReadingTake the Laurelwood Park Survey