So, it's Lents then...

Rose Quarter vision saves Portland's Memorial Coliseum
Yeah, great, you "saved" it until what...the thing finally collapses? It's a building that's in need of far more work than people realize, is redundant, and has a memorial very few can even see. The only people I can see being really happy about this are the small group that wanted to save it for some historical value (the old Yankee Stadium was historic, too, but also a dump from what I hear) and the long-time Winter Hawk fans who want the Hawks to play in a building of their own. A baseball stadium right across the river from downtown, with easy access by car or transit? Who needs that?

As for Lents, it's all right. They can make a nice looking stadium there. But it's in the middle of SE Portland. It's not centrally located like PGE Park, so it's going to take a little more work for people on the West side to want to come out there. The new Max line would be close, but I've been to Lents Park before and can see that parking is going to be an even bigger problem than it was downtown.

I'm all right with the Beavers moving out of PGE Park; in the long run the remodel didn't do much to make it a better baseball stadium. I just wonder if a new stadium in Lents is going to help the Beavers' attendance in the long run.

I'm still hoping that this isn't the final plan, that Dan Saltzman comes around to sanity, and that Memorial Coliseum gives way to Memorial Stadium. While I don't think Lents will kill the Beavers, it's certainly not going to to what the MC site would have done.

Whatever happened to discussions of the Portland Public Schools site, just north of the RQ? Didnt the PPS want to rebuild somewhere else, anyway? And I guess the Main Post Office site cant be lined up quickly enough?

I am not in favor of moving the team to Lents, but I guess it will open them up to a new audience (SE Portland, Gresham, Clackamas, etc., that wouldnt have come downtown to a game)... I only went to a couple Beavers games a year, but I dont see me going to one in Lents.

I'm also sure this isnt the last we hear of the issue... it was a "final decision" to move the stadium to Lents the first time, then a "final decision" to replace Memorial Coliseum with a stadium... there will be more "final decisions"...

And I agree with PPT... all things being equal, I would be in favor of saving the Coliseum... but the reality is the building is in terrible disrepair ($$ millions in deferred maintenance), bleeds city money from an operations standpoint, and is obsolete. It's time has come. Honor the Veterans by keeping the memorial (and placing it better--who has actually seen it?) and renaming what ever goes in it's place as "Memorial ____."

As somebody who has a great-uncle on that memorial, I don't believe the current memorial does those heroes justice. I would have no problem with the Coliseum being demolished and something else built there. The only caveat would be to build a new monument worthy of all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us and our country. Do that and there are no problems as far as I'm concerned.

As for the Lents site, it won't be a bad site for baseball and it will be good for the surrounding area. If there is in area in Portland where Urban Renewal dollars are justified, this is it. One only needs to travel west on Foster less than a mile to figure that out.

-SciFi

SciFi wrote:I don't believe the current memorial does those heroes justice.

Amen. The memorial is hardly visible to the public. Something more significant and accessible is warrented. We cannot forget these heroes.

SciFi wrote:As for the Lents site, it won't be a bad site for baseball and it will be good for the surrounding area. If there is in area in Portland where Urban Renewal dollars are justified, this is it. One only needs to travel west on Foster less than a mile to figure that out.

-SciFi

Do you have an issue with my neighborhood, affectionately known as Felony Flats?

up7587 wrote:

SciFi wrote:As for the Lents site, it won't be a bad site for baseball and it will be good for the surrounding area. If there is in area in Portland where Urban Renewal dollars are justified, this is it. One only needs to travel west on Foster less than a mile to figure that out.

-SciFi

Do you have an issue with my neighborhood, affectionately known as Felony Flats?

I'm not saying the residents there are all bad. In fact, I happen to have several friends in the area and I belong to a martial arts school in that area. My issue is that the area is very run down and yet the Lents area has rediculous potential.

-SciFi

I would certainly hope it had potential.... Although I see a potentially big problem with the Thirsty Thursday crowd spilling out into the Lents neighborhood... (Haha I would say the Lents move would kind of doom that whole scene anyway for better or for worse....)

Here's the thing with Lents... it actually may work as a AAA site, because there are really strong baseball networks in outer-East Portland, Grasham, and (especially) Vancouver, which is a short drive down 205. As a Little League coach, I know... there are TONS of teams out there.

But any hope of it either eventually translating into a MLB site or becomming part of the cultural fabric of Portland (which it kind of is now with the Thirsty Thursdays) will go by the wayside. If it were in the Rose Quarter, I could see going to Beavers games and then to the new bars around there as something to do on weekend nights.

Being out in Lents, it would be an event for families mainly. And not that there's anything wrong with that at all... I just would prefer to see it located somewhere it could potentially be expanded into an MLB stadium (there's already $150 million in bonds designated for that use from Salem) and could contribute better to the rebirth of the moribund Rose Quarter area.

Saving the Memorial Coliseum just to appease some noisy architects is silly... and totally gutting it and keeping the shell is even sillier. I mean, what, are they going to put some restaurants inside it or something? A mall? Tear it down and put the land to use.

DaTruRochin wrote:I would certainly hope it had potential.... Although I see a potentially big problem with the Thirsty Thursday crowd spilling out into the Lents neighborhood... (Haha I would say the Lents move would kind of doom that whole scene anyway for better or for worse....)

It's a short walk from the park down to the Copper Penney! I'm sure they sell lots of Pliney!

up7587 wrote:
It's a short walk from the park down to the Copper Penney! I'm sure they sell lots of Pliney!

A bar? Sigh... Methinks if I don't go to a Beavers game in the next 2 years I never will again... Unless of course I have kids at some point, but I'll probably be Geezer's age before I'm ready for that...

Stonehouse wrote:
Saving the Memorial Coliseum just to appease some noisy architects is silly... and totally gutting it and keeping the shell is even sillier. I mean, what, are they going to put some restaurants inside it or something? A mall? Tear it down and put the land to use.

Perhaps a flat area to introduce the Afghan game of buzkashi to the masses??

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/06/afghanistan.buzkashi/index.html

Stonehouse wrote:Saving the Memorial Coliseum just to appease some noisy architects is silly... and totally gutting it and keeping the shell is even sillier. I mean, what, are they going to put some restaurants inside it or something? A mall? Tear it down and put the land to use.

The guy leading the architects, Brian Libby, has been quoted saying he thinks the MC should have a retractable roof. He wasn't kidding.

Anyone care to estimate how much that would cost the City of Portland?!