Memorial Coliseum’s fate hangs in the balance

City Council vote set Wednesday as groups scramble to save building

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Apr 20, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (16 Reader comments)

Tribune File Photo

The fate of the 48-year-old Memorial Coliseum hangs in the balance as Portland’s City Council considers a plan Wednesday, April 22 to build a new baseball stadium in the Rose Quarter.

The Portland City Council votes Wednesday on the fate of the Memorial Coliseum.

As part of a series of decisions needed to help bring a Major League Soccer team to Portland, the council is set to vote on April 22 on a site for a new Triple-A baseball stadium.

City planners are recommending that the stadium be built where the coliseum sits in the Rose Quarter. Whether the council will actually chose this location – or make any decision – remains to be seen, however.

Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard are in support of building the stadium in the Rose Quarter. Commissioner Dan Saltzman, the swing vote on bringing the MLS team to Portland, says he has not yet made up his mind about the Rose Quarter plans, including demolishing the coliseum.

Leonard said he “anticipates” a majority of the council will vote to build the stadium on the coliseum site, but added that the decision is not yet final.

"We've had discussions about alternative sites, but at the end of the day it always come back to the coliseum," said Leonard, perhaps the most vocal supporter for bringing an MLS team to Portland. "But anyone who follows the council knows that nothing is over until it's over."

In the meantime, many Portlanders are beginning to lobby to save the coliseum. They include architects and historic preservationists who believe the coliseum is architecturally significant. Some of them plan a rally to save the coliseum for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, at the American Institute of Architects' Center for Architecture, 403 N.W. 11th Ave.

At two previous public forums on the Rose Quarter redevelopment plans, some of the coliseum supporters have also argued the council is making the decision too quickly. With commissioners Nick Fish and Amanda Fritz voting no, the council first voted to bring an MLS team to Portland on March 11.

The vote called for remodeling PGE Park for the team and building a new stadium in the Rose Quarter for the minor league Portland Beavers baseball team. Now, just five weeks after the first vote, the council is on the verge of authorizing the coliseum to be demolished for the stadium.

According to Adams, the decision is not happening as quickly as it seems. In fact, the mayor says the council has repeatedly voted for policies that support the decision for the past 20 years.

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