More potential ideas are brought up in the Oregonian. http://www.oregonlive.com/pbeavers/index.ssf/2009/06/where_will_the_portland_beaver.html
Put the Beavers over at the Lincoln HS field. I'm pretty sure the bleachers could hold the average attendance. Soccer is only happening at PGE park. Maybe another city wants the Beavers?
That's actually not true. It wasn't designed for baseball it all, which is a huge part of the problem. It was designed for football. The architect (famous Portland architect A.E. Doyle) designed the stadium to be a full U-shaped horseshoe, with the open end facing where the MAC club is now. For some reason (I think disputed property ownership) they never finished the stands along the East sideline (now used as baseball outfield), but the other side of the horseshoe (now the first-base side) and the U-curve at the end (third-base side) were completed according to the original plans for a rectangular football stadium. Thus Multnomah/Civic/PGE has great design and sightlines for football (and soccer), especially if they ever actually built the stands along the other sideline to finish the horseshoe. (Note: this is exactly what Paulson is proposing that they do to make it a MLS stadium.) In the meantime, it is a TERRIBLE baseball stadium. When Vaughn Street was condemned in the 1950s, the Beavers needed someplace to play and they shoehorned a big square-shaped baseball field into a space that works much better as a rectangle. The dimensions and sightlines for baseball are just all wrong. Making matters worse, the stadium is 2 or 3 times too big for AAA crowds, which (a) kills the atmosphere by leaving oceans of empty seats all over the place and (b) is massively expensive to maintain, which kills minor league baseball's financial viability. (There is a reason why four different versions of Portland minor league teams (if I'm counting correctly -- Beavers x2, Mavericks, Rockies) have split town over the past 30 years. And the reason is that Civic Stadium is a failed venue for minor league baseball.) Baseball in Civic Stadium is a miserable experience, which is why pretty much no one goes to Beavers games there. Long story short: Civic stadium is a fantastic football/soccer stadium and a horrible baseball stadium. That's why it would be a real shame if Portland manages to blow this chance to fix the mess and get an MLS team that I'm pretty sure, based on the success of the minor-league Timbers, would be a huge success. Whether the city should take a gamble that a smaller field designed specifically for baseball would actually revive some level of fan interest in the Beavers is a different question... I'm not really sure. I suspect that Portland might actually be better off letting the Beavers leave for an actual minor-league city that is more excited to have them. But either way, I don't see them having any long-term viability at Civic. Just like the last two owners of (previous versions of) the Beavers, Paulson will eventually realize that the Beavs in Civic Stadium don't add up and head for greener pastures. And it would be a real travesty if, by the time that happens, we've chased away what could have been a great tenant in the MLS Timbers. (With MLS expanding to Vancouver and Seattle, there is little chance that the current minor-league Timbers can survive if the MLS bid fails.) Then we'd be left with a big multi-purpose stadium, no baseball team, and no soccer team. (Which would take us right back to the situation from the 1930s-50s, when there was no team to play there so it was used primarily for... dog racing!) SR
Ok, so I'm going to reverse course here and admit I was wrong. On the other hand, dog racing... that sounds pretty good. barfo
The stadium is "too" big for AAA baseball. What about the land around Portland International Raceway. Theres tons of land by Lowes in that area. I bet there are lots of warehouses that lost their businesses. A ballpark should just go there.
Ah yes, the rallying cry of the uninformed. Please show me a quote or article or anything that talks about raising taxes to pay for anything related to remodeling PGE Park and relocating the Beavers. I'm so sick and tired of all the ignorant "NOT IN MY BACKYARD" Portlanders. It's no wonder we're creeping up to 15% unemployment here, with so many unimaginative, run-screaming-from-progress people in this town. -Pop
No not uninformed. Just consider it a precondition. Go wherever the hell you want. Even in my neighborhood. Just don't expect me to pay for it.
Well, then we should at least turn it into a ruin, like the Rome Colosseum. The bombed-out remains of the MC would be a more interesting attraction. And it would still work fine as a memorial. barfo
Before we light the fuse... can I have a little piece of the court to remember it by? Also, I hear the Colosseum is now over run by cats (they can survive anything)... I've got a starter cat to donate. She's extremely loud and obnoxious but she's got the looks to make up for it.
Jumping point: I find it incredibly odd that people consider the MC a great architectural piece. It's a box. If they can tear down Boston Garden, Chicago Stadium, Comisky and are in the process of tearing down Yankee Stadium, all of which had significantly more history than the MC, they can tear down a glass box.
You're right. They weren't going to raise taxes, they were going to use tax money that was already taken. You know,that community improvement money. By the way, soccer fans. PDX is not soccer city. It's basketball city. Soccer is merely a play-thing for some.
So, building a first-class baseball stadium cannot be an example of "community improvement"? There's a reason why that money is called "urban renewal dollars." And that money was already there. Please give me an example of other shovel-ready projects that would create jobs and bring people to an area, helping local businesses and citizens. Theoretically, that's what urban renewal money should do ... prop up the area and raise financial viability and property values. -Pop
