There is good news for a former 24-acre small college campus
tucked in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Northeast Portland. By next summer, students should be taking
classes again in what used to be Concordia University.
The campus has been closed for more than two years after the
conservative Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church decided to shut down the
1200-student university ostensibly because of its creation of a center to
provide assistance to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. (Don’t ask if Jesus approved.)
The future of the campus and its many buildings became a big
question mark in the Concordia neighborhood. The land is zoned as a "campus" under Portlands's land-use laws, which made potential converstion to some other use difficult and costly to achieve.
Two years ago, Building on History recommended that it be resold to a
larger institution – possibly Portland State University – as an adjunct
campus. While our suggestion seemed to
go nowhere, the University of Oregon purchased the site earlier this summer for
$47 million, according to county records.
The purchase arose from a $425 million donation to the
University of Oregon from Connie and Steve Ballmer to create the Ballmer
Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health.
(Steve Ballmer is a former CEO of Microsoft.) The institute will offer bachelor’s degrees
and certificates for mid-career professionals upgrading their credentials.
According to information presented to the Concordia
Neighborhood Association, the institute hopes to address a national shortage of
professionals engaged in mental health programs for children. As many as 80 percent of American students
needed mental health care are unable to get it, according to the institute’s
proponents.
The first 200 students are expected to arrive on campus by
summer and fall of 2023, along with 20 faculty members. The university also has left the door open to
other programs potentially using parts of the “new” campus.
The sale closes the history books on Concordia, which began in
1905 as a Lutheran-related private high school.
It
expanded to a junior college in 1950 and to an accredited four-year university
in 1977, dropping the high school along the way.
While new ownership is good news for the campus and the
neighborhood, it does not answer what happens to the old Concordia athletic
facilities. In the early 2000s,
Concordia removed 30 nearby houses it had acquired over many years to build attractive
all-weather fields for soccer and baseball.
The university also has tennis courts and a gymnasium in good condition
that seats about 1100 for basketball.
All these facilities are in good condition – or at least
were when Concordia University closed. They
should not be left idle. If the
University of Oregon doesn’t intend to use them, perhaps it could structure a
deal with the Portland Bureau of Parks and Recreation. Ball fields are at a premium in the
neighborhood, and these should be put to good public use.
-----Fred Leeson
Join Building on History’s mailing list by writing “add me”
to fredleeson@hotmail.com
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