Demolition begins on long-time eyesore

PORTLAND, Ore. - Demolition has begun on an old, vacant Burger King restaurant that has been an eyesore in downtown Portland for years, and which has attracted drug activity and prostitution.

On Tuesday, an excavator took the first bites out of the former fast food restaurant at the corner of West Burnside and Northwest Broadway and a crowd gathered outside to celebrate and to hear about the plans for the future.

The old restaurant is being torn down to make way for a new 44,000 square foot health care facility that will be operated by Central City Concern, a non-profit agency that provides affordable housing, health services, help with recovery and employment aid for thousands of people in Portland.

The project for the new Broadway Recovery Center (depicted in the illustration below) was funded in part by $9 million in federal stimulus dollars and will create 160 construction jobs in the months to come.

"This will be great," said construction worker Sean Peabody. "It'll keep us going for a little while until the next one comes along, I hope."

Congressman David Wu, D-Ore., was on hand for the demolition, which began Tuesday and will be finished up this week. Wu talked about the new jobs this will bring to our area and how he believes it is a sign that the Recovery Act is working.

"This project represents 160 construction jobs that would not be here otherwise and in the long term there will be 11 health care staff added to Central City Concern," he said. "These are private sector, high wage, middle class jobs for Oregon and it is coming here because of the Recovery Act that people say did absolutely nothing."

City Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees housing in Portland, was there as well and talked about the progress being made in the city's 10-year plan to end homelessness.

"We have moved 7,000 people from the street to housing and to a better place," he said. "But look around. Our work is not done and it won't get any easier because the resources aren't there to meet the growing need. But that's for another day. Today's a day of celebration and to thank the people who are doing the hard work."

Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury (pictured at right with City Commissioner Nick Fish) talked specifically about Central City Concern and their role in the community.

"We count on the fact that the services CCC provides are evidence-based, human-centered, are delivered with expertise and compassion and are based on the fundamental belief in the worth of every person," she said. "I have always felt that what makes CCC very special is that this organization takes the time to understand what people really need to transform their lives, and then they do whatever it takes."

It'll be over a year before the building is ready for use (it's slated for completion in the fall of 2011) but for those who know the area, just tearing down the old Burger King restaurant - a magnet for drug activity and crime - is good news.

"Before they put this fence up, people would be in here drinking at all hours of the day and night and shooting up dope, you know," said Dana Biel, who watched the demolition begin on Tuesday.

"It's nice to see (it come down)," said Dennis Hoggatt, who lives across the river but frequents the neighborhood. "I've been complaining to people on the bus for years about that building."

"I heard what it was and all the problems it had, so it's good to see it go," said Keith Herbstreit, who works nearby.

When construction is complete, the new health care facility will allow doctors to care for 1,300 people. The three-story building will expand Central City Concern's Old Town Clinic next door and replace their mental health recovery center, which is currently on Southwest 12th Avenue. The building was also designed so that more floors could be added in the future as needed.

"The possibilities of increasing capacity and providing quality care by integrating these two clinics, I think, will be a national model," said Ed Blackburn, Executive Director of Central City Concern.

KATU Reporter Susan Harding contributed to this report

RAW VIDEO

Congressman David Wu talks about the jobs the project will create

Raw video of the start of the demolition

The view of the old Burger King building from Jet Ranger 2