PPS’s Board of Education voted to approve purchasing the One North property for the center, over five years after voters approved funding it.
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Public Schools Board of Education voted to approve the purchase of a property for the long-awaited Center for Black Student Excellence.
It’s been over five years since voters approved a $60 million bond to fund the center, with a recent report suggesting it will be even longer before it is ready, as the One North property, located at the corner of North Williams and Fremont streets, needs extensive renovations that could total up to $20 million.
On Tuesday, though, PPS approved purchasing the One North property.
The dual-building, 75,700-square-foot campus will be christened the Michael “Chappie” Grice Center (East Building) and the Dr. Harriet Adair Center (West Building), “honoring two trailblazing educators whose leadership, advocacy, and brilliance shaped generations of PPS students,” according to PPS.
The Grace Center will be the “community’s living room,” offering a space for “services, cultural programming, and collaborative learning rooted in belonging,” with the Adair Center serving as a creative studio for academic excellence, including spaces for “technology, multimedia, STEM, storytelling, and entrepreneurship,” PPS said.
Overall, the Center for Black Student Excellence is intended to provide support and tutoring for underserved students, honoring Black students’ histories and expanding opportunities. The purchase “marks a major step toward fulfilling that commitment,” PPS said in a statement.
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In a statement, PPS Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong said, “This project stands on years of community advocacy, families, students, elders, and partners who refused to let the promise of Black student excellence fade.
“Tonight’s vote says something powerful: Portland is choosing to honor that promise,” she continued. “PPS is choosing to evolve, courageously, transparently, and in partnership with the people who have carried this vision forward. Together, we rise.”
PPS Board Vice Chair Michele DePass, also in a statement, said the history-making decision “honors a promise our Black community can experience for generations, and it’s long overdue.”
