Community Advocacy Updates

Stay informed on Hillsdale projects, city planning, and neighborhood issues. See what HNA is tracking, our advocacy efforts, and how you can get involved.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Ida B. Wells Modernization Conditional Use Hearing
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
1:30pm over Zoom only
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89705622346

Useful Documents:
Hearing Notice
Plans submitted to City Planning Department (the file is large and may take a few minutes to load)
PPS Memo with updates to previously submitted documents
Exhibits A-G
City Staff Land Use Review Response
Staff Report and Recommendations to the Hearing Officer

___________________________________________________________________________________________

July 9, 2026

The final opportunity for input on the Ida B. Wells campus rebuild is the Conditional Use hearing on July 22.

Providing testimony is easy, here’s how:

• Send an email with your comments anytime before the hearing date to HearingsOfficeClerks@portlandoregon.gov; reference case number LU 26-026160
• Attend the hearing on July 22 via Zoom; no sign-up is necessary

If you’re unsure about how to provide testimony, want to learn more about the process, or discuss possible testimony topics, HNA will hold a testimony prep workshop at 7pm on July 16 to answer questions and share information (see above).

Do you have concerns about parking? Public access? Something else? This is your last chance to have input into this project that impacts daily life in our neighborhood, paid for by your tax dollars.

What to know about testifying

• Written testimony is given the same weight as in-person testimony.
• This hearing is about the finished building and its use.
• Testimony, whether written or in-person, should be civil (keep it nice) and focussed on approval criteria.
• It’s your right to provide input—that’s what the hearing is for.
• The Wells rebuild is funded by your tax dollars, so don’t be hesitant to participate in the hearing process.
• Construction permits are a separate process. HNA is tracking issues such as construction staff parking, planning for safe student drop-off, and delivery access for businesses on the south side of Capitol Hwy.

Public comment works!

In response to neighborhood association and other public comment, PPS has already revised several aspects of the plans:

• Easements have been promised for three pedestrian and bicycle pathways
• Fence lines have been modified
• Two planned time-lock gates blocking the road through the Rieke parking lot have been replaced with one set of bollards
• The Hillsdale Farmers’ Market will be allowed to move to the south end of the parking lot during construction rather than forced to relocate entirely

Possible testimony topics:

• Loss of public use of campus spaces: The new campus will be largely off-limits to the public.

All athletic facilities will be fenced and gated, including the practice field. No guarantees have been made for public access when not in use by the school.
The plans also include a new courtyard, open to the west and adjacent to the practice field, that will not be available for public use at any hour of the day.
Public access will be limited to the periphery, with a walkway through campus that will be open only outside of school hours.

• The plans transform the Ida B. Wells campus, a long-standing community resource into a barrier that residents must navigate around rather than a space they can share and use. Should we expect the campuses of Robert Gray and Rieke to be eventually fenced off from public use as well?
• Emergency planning: The Wells practice field on SW Vermont is currently identified as a BEECN hub, where volunteers will set up emergency communications in the event of a disaster. If the practice field is fenced and locked following the rebuild, an alternative BEECN site will need to be identified.
• Bicycle access: Plans call for bicyclists to dismount for almost 1/4 mile when riding through the Rieke parking lot.
• Student parking: Student parking will not increase on the campus. Current conditions are already difficult for many neighbors, with cars parked illegally, blocking access to private property and interfering with emergency vehicle access.
• Field lighting: PPS has applied for a code exception for higher lights.
• Vehicle access through the Rieke Parking lot: The plan calls for bollards in the middle of the lot to separate the Wells and Rieke parking lots on the west side of the campus. Vehicles will be allowed to enter at either entrance, but will not be able to pass the bollards, effectively ending use of the parking lot as a vehicular through-connection between Capitol Hwy and Vermont.

Approval Criteria

Under city code, the hearing officer can approve, deny, or approve with conditions according to approval criteria that includes livability and change of use of property. The loss of public use of open space could be considered a significant change in the use of the property. Find the relevant approval criteria under section 33.815.100, at this link: https://www.portland.gov/sites/default/files/code/815-cu_0.pdf.

A quick overview of the Wells modernization project

• Construction will begin in Fall of 2026 on a new building just to the west of the existing building on SW Vermont St.
• Students will remain in the old building during construction.
• The stadium will remain in the same location; grandstand and surfaces will be upgraded.
• The Parks-owned public swimming pool will remain in the same location.
• Tennis courts, baseball field, and practice field will be relocated.
• The number of on-site parking spaces will remain about the same.
• The cost is roughly $450 million, paid for by the bond measure approved by voters in 2025.

Go to https://bond.pps.net/current-modernizations/ida-b-wells-modernization for more information from PPS.

---

March 16, 2026

Ida B. Wells High School Modernization Project – Transportation Study

February 6, 2026

Hillsdale Neighborhood Association Comments and Requests re: Ida B. Wells Modernization Plans

The Ida B. Wells modernization design team has met the many challenges of this site with a thoughtfully conceived plan that will bring SW Portland’s high school into the 21st century. HNA is grateful for PPS’s responsiveness to earlier community input on issues such as the Hillsdale Farmers’ Market, retaining parking spaces, and preserving the longstanding pedestrian paths that cross the campus.

At this time, HNA has final comments and requests for PPS and City bureaus. We see these as ways to better integrate the new campus into its surrounding community and to honor the commitment and support of voters for the school modernization bond program.

We hope PPS and the City of Portland will address these items and inform us as far as how and when HNA can continue to influence remaining decisions.

Click here to view the complete document.

Remaining opportunities for public input:

Land Use Hearing: Not scheduled at this time.

---

February 4, 2026

From the Grapevine, the Farmers’ Market newsletter:

“We’re thrilled to have reached a resolution with PPS that will allow the market to remain on the south end of our current parking lot site through the duration of the project. Construction is expected to begin later this year, and we’ll continue to keep our community informed well in advance of any impact to market operations.”

October 22, 2025

An excerpt from the Grapevine, the Farmers’ Market newsletter:

“A Positive Step Forward for the Market’s Future
We have exciting news to share! Portland Public Schools (PPS) has offered the Rieke Elementary end of our current parking lot as a home for the Hillsdale Farmers’ Market for the duration of the IBW modernization project! 🎉

We just received this news yesterday (10/21), so it’s still very new, and there are many details to be worked out before any agreement is finalized. That said, this is a major, positive step forward, and we are proceeding in gratitude and good faith that we will be able to come to a mutually acceptable solution with PPS to keep the market right here in Hillsdale.

We want to extend our gratitude to our incredible community. PPS received hundreds of emails from market shoppers, neighbors, and supporters expressing how much this market means to Hillsdale. Your voices truly made a difference.

We also want to thank PPS for their hard work behind the scenes to make this option possible, coordinating with city departments and listening to the many community members who spoke up about the importance of keeping the market in our neighborhood.”

September, 2025

The Hillsdale Farmers’ Market has been at the heart of our neighborhood for more than 20 years—bringing fresh, local food, supporting small farmers and food makers, and creating a weekly gathering place that strengthens our community.

Right now, the Market faces a serious challenge due to the proposed closure of the parking lot housing the Market during Wells High School rebuild. This page provides background, updates, and ways you can get involved to help keep the Market thriving in Hillsdale. HNA and the Farmers’ Market believe that the Market can work with PPS to come to an agreement that would allow the Market to remain onsite during construction without interfering with the rebuild plans or the timeline.

The proposed closure of the Wells parking lot where the Market is located would also shut down two SW Trails walking routes.

What you can do right now

1. Send emails to these Portland Public Schools officials:

• Dr. Jon Franco, Senior Chief of Operations, jfranco@pps.net
• Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong, PPS Superintendent, karmstrong@pps.net
• Deborah Kafoury, PPS Chief of Staff, dkafoury@pps.net
• PPS Board of Directors, schoolboard@pps.net

Find a sample letter at the Farmers’ Market website here.

2. Let your friends and neighbors know that the Farmers’ Market is under threat and that they need to write emails.

3. Fill out the Farmers’ Market community survey and help us show PPS decision makers how much the market matters to Hillsdale and Southwest Portland.

Hillsdale Farmer’s Market Website

Join the Keep the Market Committee

Read the Hillsdale Farmer’s Market report below to learn more about the importance of mounting a campaign to keep the Market in place: