And another example of portland's small town mentality. I wonder if the people voting for this have been in there in the last couple years. Absolute dump.
Zero redeeming qualities other than the ghost of 20-50 years ago wandering around the building while the Winter Hawks play in front of 2500 people. I wonder who is behind this decision, because it makes no sense.
It's a rectangle with glass. I could understand wanting to keep something unique like the old Lewis and Clark expo building (that burned down)..or some the neater architectural buildings in the city, but we're talking about a glass rectangle. It wasn't even built during a neat time. It's not like it was built with the WPA or New Deal, or the 20's, or had a rich architectural design to it (like some of the older churches in Portland). It's a glass rectangle. And not even a neat looking one at that. Way too much is being made out of it's "past". They tore down Chicago Stadium, Boston Garden and they're in the process of tearing down (or already have, I'm not sure) Yankee Stadium. They can tear down the Memorial Coliseum, and just designate a new building as the "Memorial". Why not make it a nice park incorporated into the Rose Quarter? Well, maybe that wouldn't work because the NBA season coincides with our rainy season. But a park, with a better Memorial, and easier to access and actually find (and be used) would be more beneficial in the long run, instead of just making it so the dump doesn't get torn down. It's a glass rectangle. And an ugly one at that.
I didn't read the Article becuase it would piss me off. Unfortunately these people can't see the big picture. Who actully supports this would be my question because i haven't met a single person in favor of keeping it.
Typical small town Portland thinking. God forbid they put something there that might be useful, and create a few construction and permanent jobs.
Thank you Sam Adams....you stupid *&#^(*&#. If Adams hadn't gotten caught with that underage boy in the bathroom at city hall he'd have had the political clout to get that thing torn down and a baseball stadium built. Now we are stuck with the damn thing. Putting a historical label on that damn thing is ridiculous. If they can tear down freakin Yankee Stadium, they should have no problem tearing down a shithole like the MC.
Love the quote from Randy Leonard at the end of the article: "It doesn't get there because of aesthetics. It gets there because of age," he said of the historic designation. "I'm old enough to be on the historic register. That doesn't make me aesthetically appealing" What a stupid decision.
I just can't fucking believe this decision. I know just enough about architecture to be dangerous. However, I know actual architects and their universal reaction is "WTF?". None of the architects I asked believes that MC is in any way architecturally significant, either in Portland or nationally. I loved this line in particular from the article: The Seagram's Building this ain't. SOM made its bones by building the same building for 30 years, making pedestrian the cutting edge works van der Rohe and Le Courbusier. Hell, even Philip Johnson had to turn his back on this style, ending it for good in 1984 with his Chippendale-topped AT&T Building. I wish people would just be honest and say they're anti-development. Putting this building on the NHR is an insult to the truly deserving structures on the Registry.
Is there any way to get this removed from the NHR? Seriously I don't know a single person who wanted to keep the building so I have a really hard time beleiving there was that much support for it to basically be considered a monument in the Portland area. I just love how there isn't one positive reaction to this announcement in the comments section.
My only issue is that it was built as a memorial to war veterans. If it comes down, whatever goes up in it's place should be dedicated as a memorial.
It was not built as a memorial. It was built to be a coliseum. I'm not sure when they came up with the name but I'm sure it was after they decided to build a multi-use arena.
The building itself is not the memorial. The actual memorial is not in the best condition and hardly even noticeable to the general public. The city could do a lot better
The Memorial should be rebuilt in one of these places. Up at the Rose Gardens in Washington Park, as part of the Waterfront by the USS Oregon or at the Portland liberty ship Memorial Park as part of a revitalization of that area.
Maybe they should turn the coliseum into the world's largest mausoleum. You could probably fit a few hundred thousand people in there, would give the city a long term revenue stream and you could wave to your loved one that has been interred there on your way to Blazer games and concerts. Think of it as not only having your number permanently retired there but your entire body.
