City wants to raze Memorial Coliseum
Rose Quarter - A plan calls for building a Triple A ballpark while revitalizing the area
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
MARK LARABEE
The Oregonian Staff
The city plans to demolish Memorial Coliseum to make way for a new Triple A baseball park and will consider razing offices and a parking garage as part of a plan to redevelop the Rose Quarter, Mayor Sam Adams said Tuesday.
That's the outcome of a two-day planning marathon among city officials, the Portland Trail Blazers and representatives for Merritt Paulson's Peregrine LLC, the company formed to bring Major League Soccer to Portland and build a new baseball stadium for Paulson's Portland Beavers.
The group's charge was to find a way to build the baseball park while revitalizing the moribund Rose Quarter.
The Blazers want a covered entertainment district that they hope will bring millions of visitors to the area every night of the week. The district could include retail shops, bars and restaurants, as well as office spaces and a boutique hotel. Other options include a 2,500-seat concert venue and an interactive sports museum sponsored by Nike.
The idea is to create synergy between the Rose Quarter and the Oregon Convention Center, the nearby Lloyd District and other properties along Broadway.
The plan, announced at a news conference, is a turnaround of sorts for the relationship between the Blazers and Paulson's group. J.E. Isaac, a Blazers vice president, spoke against the baseball stadium idea when the City Council moved ahead with the deal last month. Isaac cited worries that the stadium could push aside the entertainment district and leave the Rose Quarter stuck in its decades-old rut.
Now everyone is working together, but Memorial Coliseum will have to come down to make it work, Adams said.
The roll-your-sleeves-up approach felt a little like a rush job because it is.
Adams said he wanted to bring a design concept to the City Council on April 21 as part of a predevelopment agreement with Paulson. Paulson and the city have until Sept. 1 to complete a detailed financial plan for renovating PGE Park for Major League Soccer and building the new baseball stadium. The Beavers need to be out of PGE Park by 2011, when the Portland Timbers move to the big league.
The group is working on several designs, some of which also call for the demolition of the Blazers office building and one or more of the city-owned garages in the quarter, which the city is still paying off.
Adams said they haven't delved into the stickier issue of financing all these big ideas. The financing of the baseball park and soccer stadium, estimated at $88.8 million including city-backed bonds and redevelopment money, hasn't been nailed down yet.
No one has looked at how much the entertainment district or any of the other elements would cost. But officials said they would be phased in over at least the next seven to 10 years and probably will require some taxpayer money. The city will hold a public meeting to discuss the plans next Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Left Bank Building, 240 N. Broadway.
Mark Larabee: 503-294-7664;
marklarabee@news.oregonian.com