The Community Campus at New Columbia
The Community Campus at New Columbia is inspired by the joint vision of the Housing Authority of Portland, Portland Public Schools, the Boys & Girls Clubs and Portland Parks & Recreation. New Columbia, an 850-unit, mixed-income development is currently under way in North Portland's Portsmouth neighborhood. At 82 acres, this $150 million dollar project is the largest revitalization ever undertaken in Oregon's history, and is a key element of the ongoing revitalization of North Portland. The New Columbia Community Campus will serve as a center for educational enrichment and community interaction, providing wide access to resources and a wealth of opportunities for students and their families.

	Hope at New Columbia The hopeful atmosphere of New Columbia is perhaps most evident in its commitment to children who will call this new neighborhood home. In its pledge to ensure children's educational and social achievement, New Columbia will welcome a new elementary school, co-located with a Boys & Girls Club to the Portsmouth neighborhood. These facilities will "join hands" with the existing University Park Community Center, creating a Community Campus that provides innovative spaces and programs designed to help youth thrive. To see an artist's rendering of a new Boys & Girls Club facility, click here.
	The New School The Community Campus partners are committed to giving children an exceptional education in their own neighborhood. In order to accommodate the influx of 500 new elementary students who will begin arriving in the summer of 2005, Portland Public Schools (PPS) has partnered with HAP to plan for a new school, replacing the aging John Ball Elementary. HAP and PPS set August 2006 as the marker for opening the new school, when nearly all of the residential units at New Columbia will be constructed. Likewise, the construction of a new Boys & Girls Club (BGC) facility would mark the return of the Club to North Portland.
	The Corps of Discovery In the summer of 2004, volunteer leaders from the community came together to explore the prospects and resources needed to make a new school a reality. From this meeting the "Community Campus" master plan was created. In February 2005, the PPS school board passed a resolution confirming their agreement with the master plan and accepted a donation of land from HAP. PPS also agreed to once again match HAP's additional $100,000 to advance the design process. The Corps of Discovery has now focused their attention on identifying resources to raise the needed funds for construction.
	Sharing Space and Reducing Costs Partners have come to the table with cooperation on their minds. Reducing the duplication of services and maximizing joint use of space lowers the overall capital cost. If built in isolation, the new school and the BGC would cost upwards of $22 million. By co-locating and creating a Community Campus, the total cost drops to $13 million. This cost-effective use of public funds is the type of non-traditional partnership that the public wants to see.
	Shared Vision For the roughly 1,400 youth anticipated to be living at New Columbia by 2007, as well as the youth throughout the Portsmouth neighborhood, the Community Campus will be an inviting and thriving center, providing exceptional before, during and after school programs to the neighborhood's young people and their families.