UPDATED VIDEO  2.15.10

Mardi Gras celebrations are often synonymous with excessive drinking and public nudity — hardly family-friendly fare. This year, however, North Portland families will be able to celebrate Mardi Gras at an appropriately G-rated event. 

Philip Stanton, owner of Mississippi Pizza Pub and co-president of the Historic Mississippi Business Association, and Deborah Petricek, owner of Gumbo Gifts & Gallery, have organized a “family-friendly” Mardi Gras celebration to take place on Saturday, Feb.13, beginning around noon. 

The mainstay of the event will be a street parade comprised of Boise-Eliot Elementary students, clowns on bikes, mini cars, and anyone in costume who would like to participate. In the hours leading up to the parade, there will be mask-making activities at the Q Center (4115 N Mississippi Ave. at North Mason Street) for those in need of festive “facial wear.” The parade will commence at 3 p.m., and follow along Mississippi Avenue, starting at North Skidmore Street and ending at North Fremont Street.

Neighborhood Notes' Ken Aaron has a good piece today on the EcoFlats apartment project on North Williams Avenue. The project, by developer Jean-Pierre Veillet, has received the funding necessary to begin construction on the project next month. While certain elements of the project - restaurant, common area, garden - remain in place, new features have been added, such as an elevator and six ADA-compliant living units.

What makes the EcoFlats so, um, eco? For starters, they'll be located on the Williams bike and bus corridor, encouraging people to use public transit or pedal power to get around. They'll also be a mere block from the Hub building that houses Ristretto Roasters, Lincoln and Anju restaurants, and numerous other locally owned businesses, encouraging residents to shop and eat close to home. Finally, there are plans for a portion of the building's power to come from solar energy. It's an oh-so-Portland development in the best possible way.

site plan graphic courtesy of Neighborhood Notes.

Change is finally getting ready to come to the Rose Quarter, one silo at a time.

“If you know anyone that can help us get rid of a grain elevator, that would be great,” joked Portland Trail Blazers Team President Larry Miller, who is helping spearhead a proposal to develop the Rose Quarter and re-invigorate Memorial Coliseum.

On Nov. 1, Miller and the Blazers were the first major players to ante up with their JumpTown vision — an intersection of sports, music and Portland culture — in hopes of renewing the Rose Quarter as a “vibrant 365-days-a-year district.” Since the launch date to accept public proposals, Mayor Sam Adams and his 32-member Rose Quarter Development Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) have received vast submissions from the general public ranging from turning the Coliseum into a casino and convention center, a concert hall, a Seattle-like Pike Place, and even a few requests to simply bulldoze the “Glass Palace” sprinkled in.

When do you expect to open? 
"About two months ago," said Steve Mason, the owner of Maui's at 3508 N. Williams Ave.  The bright green building is just north of the intersection of North Williams Avenue and Fremont Street. "We hope to be open any day now."

Inside there are two pool tables, a lot of hand tools, a bar ready to hold 15 beers on tap, and three Hawaiian-themed murals on the walls.  

"Maui is my dog," said Mason. Mason says he has been in Portland for the last three years, but he was in the bar business in Hawaii for 25 years. This year, he felt it was time to open his own place in Portland. The name and the look of the interior speaks more to Mason's personal past than to his vision for the business. "There's no tropical drinks or anything. It's just a neighborhood bar."

An interesting bit in today's Oregonian about Oregon Ballet Theatre's new project that brings high culture performances to local pop cultural venues.
Photo Teaser by Raparnova http://www.flickr.com/photos/rayparnova/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

FROM THE OREGONIAN

Uprising brings Oregon Ballet Theatre to the nightclub crowd
By Marty Hughley, The Oregonian
November 09, 2009, 6:14AM

When Oregon Ballet Theatre performs in its regular home, the Keller Auditorium, it's not unusual to hear loud, enthusiastic cheering at the end of a piece, maybe even a few excited whistles. What you won't get is shouts of "Down in front!" and "I want to see the pretty ballerina, too!" Or find empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans on the floor at the end of the evening.

But then, that wasn't exactly Oregon Ballet Theatre on the little stage at Mississippi Studios last week. It was called Uprising, but bold as it was, it was more like bridge building. A project initiated by OBT soloist Candace Bouchard, it brought together a half-dozen of the company's up-and-coming dancers with Portland indie folk band Horse Feathers for a fruitful experiment in artistic collaboration and audience outreach.

READ THE ARTICLE

 

Mississippi Avenue has played host to tremendous change over the years, and it continues to do so.

The Nu-Rite Way Food Center, on the corner of N Mississippi and N Shaver, has received a dramatic face-lift. With the help of funding from the Portland Development Commission, the grocery store began a renovation project last month, including cosmetic and structural work both on the outside and inside of the building. Most noticeably, the grocery store has taken down the metal bars and planks of particle board that once covered all of the front windows. Large glass windows now completely cover the store front, according to John Lee, whose parents own the market. The Nu-Rite Way is also in the process of putting in a wooden door with glass inlay, a new sign, as well as a new paint job and light fixtures on the exterior. The market removed a phone booth outside as well, which one local merchant claimed attracted illicit activity, and was a major issue for neighboring businesses.

 Some sad news from our friends on Mississippi Ave. According to an email from Bryan Steelman, owner of Por Que No? taqueria, "We did have a fire that is making us close up for repairs and cleaning, but we will rise again...soon! I am hoping to be open the first week of November, but more likely it will be the second week of November." He also added that, thankfully, no one was hurt in the fire, which occurred over the weekend.

Steelman said that the fire department is not sure how the fire started, but it began in the kitchen after hours. Steelman got to the restaurant at 1am this morning shortly after emergency vehicles arrived. 

Steelman said he is insured, and his employees will receive pay while the restaurant undergoes repairs.

Ironically, new plastic plumbing installed fire years ago during Steelman's renovation melted slightly - and acted as a sprinkler system by leaking water onto the fire, suppressing the blaze.

"I feel like that was lucky," said Steelman. "There was a little Por Que No mojo going on."

In happier news, Steelman and his wife are expecting a new baby girl on Friday. This will be his first child. "I suppose it all balances out," he said. 
 

By Noah Mendel

Multnomah County has almost 400 food carts with more opening almost daily. Some recently opened carts include Che Cafe at North Williams Avenue and Shaver Street; Mum’s Kitchen (Indian food) and Hava Java at North Fremont Street and Vancouver Avenue. But clusters, or “cart courts,” are relatively new on the city’s east side.

On North Mississippi Avenue, a recently opened food cart court offers gourmet pizza baked on a tortilla. Just up the road on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, a pioneering cart court has offered goods and services such as haircuts, a car wash, and embroidered denim jeans and Nike jackets for years.

Not long ago, cart courts could only be found catering to downtown office workers and the patrons of Saturday Market. But the popularity of the food court on lower Hawthorne Boulevard at Southeast 12th Avenue, which offers high-end food at affordable prices late into the evening, may have proven that there’s a larger market to be served.