Kenton's First Annual Street Fair is coming this Saturday, May 22nd all day to N. Denver Ave.

Come and celebrate the newly completed Kenton Library, the almost completed streetscape and the nearly, almost completely sober denizens of N. Denver Ave. Visit the many new businesses and the new and old residents that are making Kenton the best kept secret in Portland.

"I love Kenton," says Paul Bunyan, the historic plaster statue that stands watch over the Dancing Bare strip club most weeknights from the corner of N. Denver and N. Interstate. "But then, I'm cemented to the sidewalk, so, you know, I pretty much make the best of it."

Paul Bunyan, Portland's largest action figure, is a toy like icon for what has become the kid friendly capital of North Portland. Anchored around the new Kenton Library and Poises' kid friendly coffee shop, throngs of new families and sticky fingered kids are flocking to this neighborhood, once known, only for meat packing and Sam Adams...uh...that's an unfortunate juxstoposition...

So it was only a matter of time before Kenton got its own street fair full of frolicking family fun...HUrrRAYYYYY!!!!!

UPDATED 1:44pm

Heard about two more.. second one, is Willamette Blvd, at Rosa Parks Way

From this morning..

..saw this this morning at Interstate and N. Watts on my way to the office.  The City of Portland has finally gone too far...

UPDATE: 11:56 am - A REAL hoax

Despite what folks at Poises Cafe on North Denver, orginally thought, this is a REAL hoax. No photoshop tricks by yours truly (other than a tweak to brightness and contrast). Someone actually took the trouble to change the sign.

Now that a new library has opened in downtown Kenton, North Portland residents and community leaders see the page turning to a new chapter for it and surrounding neighborhoods.

“[The new branch] is a magnet for downtown Kenton,” says Mark Kirchmeier, owner of the Krakow Café on N. Interstate. “It enables people to walk and bike to the library. It's nurturing for our children's educational and social development, and it's an economic development tool.”

From email

Urban Renewal Open House- Discussion on impacts to North Portland
Historic Kenton Firehouse
Tuesday, March 30, 6-8:00 pm
Join your friends and neighbors Tuesday, March 30, from 6:00--8:00 pm for an
informative open house  to learn more about the changes being considered for
the boundaries of our Urban Renewal Area and the current  suggestions for
redevelopment of the Rose Quarter area.  Portland Development Commission
staff will be on hand to clarify the issues and answer your questions.  The
City will be making decisions in the next few months that will directly
impact the future of North Portland.  Make sure your voice is heard!

 

Awesome artsy alert! Tomorrow evening from 5-7p.m., Disjecta will play host to Portland Art Spark, a monthly networking event and collective brainstorming session for the PDX arts community. In addition to celebrating last week's kickoff of the PORTLAND2010 Biennial (sponsored in part by Disjecta), this month's gathering also offers artists a chance to win their very own show at Disjecta! Read on for all the details:

We are not only helping to celebrate PDX Biennial 2010, this Art Spark, it's ALSO a chance to Win a Show at DISJECTA! Prepare a one page synopsis of a project and one page with images. Art Spark attendees will review proposals at the event and award one artist the opportunity to show at DISJECTA. All artists must attend Art Spark and be ready to present their project to the audience if chosen. Submit at Art Spark March 18th by 5 p.m. Individual artists or curated group shows encouraged to apply. Work in all media accepted.

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The Kenton Library opened at last today, officially and ceremoniously. The place has been packed all day as residents pore over the library's shiny bookish bling.  The library is around the corner from the Sentinel's office and I literally stopped in this afternoon only because I had to return some Terry Pratchett audio books. Today was a great day for the neighborhood and North Portland, and one that will be well covered by the mainstream press.  If you as a resident have photos you'd like us to post here or link to, please comment below or email them to pub@portlandsentinel.com. -Cornelius Swart

UPDATE: I stopped in as well, and it was packed to the gills with people - and, of course, books. City Council candidate Ed Garren was there, as was Multnomah County Commissioner candidate Karol Collymore and a host of other local luminaries. In the storytelling space, women used puppets to act out Dr. Seuss stories as enraptured children looked on. People perused the shelves, marveled at the extensive DVD collection (which pulls out, file cabinet-style, from the wall) and noshed on mini-cupcakes and lemonade provided by nearby Posies Cafe. The library is shiny, spacious and state-of-the-art (well, at least by Portland standards), and brings Kenton one step closer to being a gentrified destination neighborhood. YEAH literacy! -Rebecca Robinson

It's an unbelievably exciting weekend for arts in N/NE, headlined by the kickoff tomorrow of the PORTLAND2010 Biennial at Disjecta (with which we happily share a building). As described by Disjecta Founder/Director Bryan Sureth, PORTLAND2010 "is a biennial exhibition of contemporary artwork significant to Portland's art landscape" featuring 18 competitively selected Portland contemporary artists, whose work will be displayed at Disjecta and other venues citywide through May. Be sure to check out the opening reception tomorrow evening from 6-10 p.m. at 8371 N. Interstate Ave.

Also! Roosevelt High School presents "The Wizard of Oz" this weekend! RHS Theatre Arts Director Jo S. Lane has received significant local praise for her productions, and this one is not to be missed. The curtains go up tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. See our other post for more details, and see you there!

Plans are underway for the Kenton Street Fair, gracing North Denver Avenue in May. Jessie Burke, the owner of Posies Cafe, is helping to spearhead the fair's organization, and is giving Kenton businesses first dibs on booths. We've got the info below, and Kenton business owners can download the vendor form as an attachment at the bottom of this post.

We've completed our vendor forms and they are being prepared for distribution and to be posted on our KBA website.  I wanted to send them around to the Kenton area businesses first, however, because we wanted to give Kenton businesses first priority for booth space, and also a discounted rate for all KBA members.  At next week's KBA meeting we will be discussing KBA membership, dues, etc if you want more information on how to qualify for the discounted rate.

The rate for Kenton businesses is $25 per booth (10x10).  You must provide your own tent, table and chairs.  The remainder of details are listed on the application.

At long last, the Kenton branch of the Multnomah Library System opened on Monday March 7th. A grand opening ceremony and party is scheduled for this Saturday March 13th.

In my five years with The Sentinel, my favorite story was “Crack in Kenton” (November 2006 article not available online).  An ex-pimp and drug addict named Lionel Scott walked into The Sentinel offices in St. Johns one evening in September. He said that he was seeing a lot of drug dealing in Kenton, but he felt that police and neighborhood activists weren’t taking him seriously. 

The newly installed community policing office on North Denver Avenue was not in regular use, and at the time, there were few businesses on the street that could keep an eye on things. Scott street mannerisms might have lead some to be dismissive or suspicious of him.

Scott appeared sincere to me.  He worked as a case manager for True Dialogue, a nonprofit that worked to keep kids off the street.  Scott’s references checked out, and distinguished people in the community such as the Reverend John Tolbert vouched for him.

Over the next two months, I followed Scott and his wife, Stephanie, as they told me of the remarkable turnaround Scott had achieved in his own life, and of criminal activity they saw in the neighborhood around them. 

In 2006, The Sentinel dedicated considerable coverage to the effort to rename North Portland Boulevard after civil rights leader Rosa Parks. In October 2006, Sentinel Publisher Cornelius Swart wrote an editorial in support of the name change.

But by the summer of 2007, as the first new Rosa Parks signs began going up on Portland Boulevard and became visible, a small backlash against the name change began to arise amongst residents. Little did they know that another street-renaming controversy was waiting in the wings.

In August 2007, The Sentinel street edition expanded on earlier online coverage about a campaign to change the name of North Interstate Avenue to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard. The Sentinel reported that several neighborhood associations along Interstate Avenue had given initial support for the idea, but businesses were unaware of the proposal.

The efforts quickly grabbed citywide, statewide, and then national headlines as a determined activist group met with increasingly vocal opposition. Accusations of racism on one side were met by allegations of back-room deals at City Hall.

I love the smell of new books in the morning! I also love adorable press releases. Which is why today is positively heavenly. Fresh from the Inbox, a press release from Multnomah County Library, detailing how local children will perform the final inspection on the brand-spankin'-new Kenton Library tomorrow before it officially opens to the public on Monday, March 8. Will The Sentinel be there with camera in tow? You bet your sweet bippy we will! (Sorry, Public; you're not invited)

Check back tomorrow for "aww"-inspiring photos featuring kids in hard hats testing the book return. And be sure to mark your calendar for the Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, March 13! Dr. Seuss plays: Need we say more?

Some crackerjack reporting here from your esteemed Publisher:  Kenton Library finally slated to open this coming Monday, March 8th! The Grand Opening ceremony's set for next Saturday.  Don't take my word for it; just look at this picture I took of a flyer in a window.  That makes it REAL. The Kenton Branch Library has been in the making for almost 10 years by my reckoning [but here's 100 years of history for you if you want it]. 

When I ran the Portsmouth Press in 2001, activists advocated for a branch along North Lombard Street.  Then-County Commissioner Serena Cruz chose to locate the planned branch in what is now the New Columbia development. Needless to say, that branch never materialized - perhaps to Kenton's benefit. Now, the little downtown strip that keeps getting better will finally have a daily regional attraction (other than the surly butcher shop and "7 Bucks a Whack" barber shop).

Kenton has had other new businesses crop up in the area, but unlike Mississippi or Alberta, the library will add a little more family friendliness to the mix.  This is more of the St. Johns model of neighborhood revitalization: a diverse mix of public services, small businesses and major corporations all in one confined area. (You don't hear St. Johns held up as model very often.) Good for the library, good for Kenton and North Portland and the city. ~ Cornelius Swart

Friday, Feb. 26, 6:45 p.m. - We just received this message from the Kenton Neighborhood Association, forwarding an email sent by a concerned resident about strange activity in Kenton Park. [unsubstantiated account]

I live on Terry Street and my husband had a very bizarre
experience at Kenton Park today involving a woman/child approaching another
child who appeared to be there alone...the woman was probably eastern
european, very heavy set, about 60+, pale skin, black/gray long hair. She
was with a teenage girl that was very, very thin with long black hair. They
had a blanket with a teddy bear print that seemed very worn and
inappropriate for the age of the girl she was with.

The teenager approached a child on the tire swing that was maybe 10 or so
years old and started asking her a bunch of questions (what;s your name,
etc.) but the line of questioning evolved into the pair asking the girl if
they could take her picture (which they did) and asked her how long she had
been at the park. My husband says his "spider sense was tingling." He got
a really, really bad vibe. There has been quite a bit in the papers
recently about human/child trafficking in the Portland area. I know it
sounds crazy but Rob is really freaked out and calling the police right now.
Could you send this out to the neighborhood list? Rob will be filing a
police report in the morning.

I just remembered something else. When my husband and I were walking into
the park we walked past the bench on the middle path that faces the play
area but is across the field from it. There was a woman with another person
(I didn't pay attention to who she was with). She had binoculars and I
remember it vividly because I thought to myself ?why does she have
binoculars and what is she looking at?? She was looking at the swings. I
thought to myself ?maybe she has grand kids and they?re over there but why
is she sitting over here? because she was much too old to have young
children. I just remembered this while I was nursing my son...one of those
observations you make and file away that don?t seem important at the time.
Something weird was definitely going on. We just missed the call back from
the police and are calling again...