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A former demolition dumping ground on Northeast 82nd Avenue is undergoing a major transformation into a nature preserve and solar farm. 
In 2024, the Bird Alliance purchased a 12.5-acre piece of the lot, located just across the street from McDaniel High School. The site sits just west of the tree-dense Rocky Butte Natural Area, but the lot itself features mostly overgrown grass. Until the 1970s, the site was home to a quarry operated by Rose City Sand and Gravel, featuring an 80-foot excavation pit. For around a decade in the 1970s and ’80s, the old gravel quarry was used as a demolition landfill, and the pit was filled with construction debris and other trash. 
The trash pit is now covered with a clay cap, making the site technically open for a new use. But the site has proven tough for commercial development—partially due to environmental challenges, but also because of neighborhood pushback.
None of this was a deterrent to the Bird Alliance, which advocates for remediation of local brownfield (AKA contaminated) sites. The Dharma Rain Zen Center owns the other half of the lot, and has worked for more than a decade to make improvements to the land. The Bird Alliance wants to continue that work, aiming to transform the site into a nature sanctuary with restored wildlife habitat. The organization also plans to relocate its wildlife care center, currently located at its headquarters near Forest Park, to the 82nd Ave site. 
“Bird Alliance of Oregon has advocated for decades on policies to remediate brownfield sites like this one and put them back to productive use,” the Bird Alliance said after it bought the property in 2024. “Now, the organization will be part of the solution by turning this open space into a destination that truly benefits the community, the local environment, and the region’s wildlife.” 
Late this summer, a construction crew broke ground on a massive solar panel installation at the 82nd Ave site, positioned low to the ground on a roughly 2-acre plot of land. The panels are expected to generate power for about 140 low-income households in East Portland. The installation is an example of what’s known as a “community solar” project, referring to an off-site solar farm that generates electricity for customers across a region, instead of requiring each household to install their own rooftop panels. 
The solar installation received funding from a Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) grant. The Asian advocacy organization APANO applied for the grant and is spearheading the project, along with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation and the Bird Alliance. The community solar installation at the site is part of APANO’s largest goal to help underserved, cost-burdened households in east Portland access renewable resources that will save them money. 
Late last month, leaders from the Bird Alliance, APANO, PCEF, and more gathered at the 82nd Ave site to share details about the project. PCEF program manager Sam Baraso said the work taking place at the Bird Alliance site “brings together so many of [PCEF’s values] in one place,” from renewable energy production to workforce development to restoring natural space that has been neglected. 
Community solar projects are gaining traction, both in Portland and across the country, as a way to broaden the reach of the renewable resource. While rooftop solar panels allow homeowners to benefit from long-term energy cost savings, the initial installation is expensive, often running a household tens of thousands of dollars for a complete installation. Many people can’t afford to front the expense. Renters, too, typically aren’t able to benefit from the resource. 
“Many times, when people hear about solar, they think, ‘Oh, I need to own my house, and it’s going to go across my roof.’ That’s not the case [here], hence the word ‘community,’” Jessica Carmona, renewable energy program director at the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, said at last month’s event. 
The energy generated at off-site solar farms will go directly to the utility grid—in this case, transmission lines operated by Pacific Power—and generate utility bill credits for those enrolled in community solar programs. The 82nd Ave solar farm is expected to cut enrolled customers’ household electricity bills by up to 50 percent. 
Project leaders said the solar initiative’s economic and social benefits are also represented by the workers building out the installation. The work has been led by contractor Imagine Energy, which prioritizes hiring people from diverse backgrounds and training them for lifelong careers in the clean energy industry. In order to hire the project crew, Imagine Energy turned to a Portland employment training and mentorship nonprofit called Leaders Become Legends. 
Leaders Become Legends co-founder Bretto Jackson said the organization works to help integrate formerly incarcerated people into the workforce, particularly by addressing mental health challenges, so they can stay in good jobs for the long-run. Jackson said after people are released from prison, they’re expected to get trained and get to work, without any acknowledgment of the trauma they may have faced in the criminal justice system. 
“It’s just all about how to teach these guys how to get back into the community and learn how to operate amongst these civilians out here when they’ve been incarcerated,” Jackson said. “When I recruit my clients, I don’t talk about jobs. I say we have generational wealth-building career opportunities. The money they’re making on these projects, if they invest and save right, they could use to buy a house one day, get their credit fixed to move forward in life. So it’s a big deal.”
Imagine Energy site supervisor Grant Laughlin said he thinks the fact that PCEF helped pay for a project like this, with its unique workforce opportunities, is an example of the city “putting their money where their mouth is” to make the construction industry more diverse and equitable. 
Work on the 82nd Ave site is ongoing, though the solar panels are expected to go online soon—likely at the start of 2027. Those interested in enrolling can find out more through APANO or the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. 
Micah Meskel, the Bird Alliance of Oregon’s conversation and rehabilitation director, said he thinks the work happening at the site exemplifies PCEF’s impact on the community. 
“I’m looking around at this solar community solar array, the jobs that it creates, the utility relief it will provide. As I look out to 82nd, where we have these new trees planted…[it’s] all because of the Portland Clean Energy Fund, and it is such a benefit to all of us,” Meskel said at the event last month. “I’m inspired to continue to advocate for [PCEF’s] protection, to ensure that projects like those we’ve heard about today are the priority of that program in the future.”
Taylor Griggs is a news reporter for the Portland Mercury. She is interested in all of your ideas, comments and concerns, particularly those related to transportation, climate, labor, and Portland city… More by Taylor Griggs
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