PORTLAND, Ore. -- The City of Portland wants to move a section of streetcar tracks downtown at a total construction cost of $4 million.
The project isn't absolutely necessary but the city says its important nonetheless. A planned addition to Portland's skyline is part of the motivation for moving the streetcar tracks.
Up to 13 stories tall and completely self-sufficient, Portland's future Oregon Sustainability Center could cost from $80- to $100 million.
"It's an ambitious agenda," said Jim Francesconi, former city commissioner and current vice president of Oregon's higher ed board.
He says a building that size covered in solar paneling and capable of re-using its own water and energy could become a national mecca for sustainable industry research.
The Legislature has already approved construction bonds.
"We're creating a whole kind of environmental zone around it so there's room to attract other companies," said Francesconi.
Crucial to the plan is it's partnership with Oregon's university system and the City of Portland.
The city has agreed to move a block of streetcar tracks so the existing train will travel through the new sustainability center.
It's something Portland's Bureau of Transportation has always wanted to do.
"The streetcar (currently) travels south, although all of the car traffic travels north," explained PBOT's Shoshanah Oppenheim. "And that's not an ideal situation."
Passerby Kelly Garriott wonders why the tracks can't just stay where they are, since skipping the re-alignment would save up to $2.5 million in urban renewal money.
"For symbolism, no I wouldn't think it would be worth it all," said Garriott. "It is a symbol," said Francesconi, "but we want to make sure that it's more than a symbol. That's why the research is occurring there."
Project partners are about halfway to their goal of attracting tenants to pay back the bonds for the new center.
By the time it's finished in 2012, the Oregon Sustainability Center would be a place you can walk, cycle and train to, but not a place you could park a car.
Private fundraising and federal grant applications are in the works. If all goes as planned, construction could begin within a year.
