How To Nudge Forward With An Arena Request (One Example)

[Pounder]

Seems timely to post this now.

One possible way of taking steps towards a new/renovated PSU arena, plus perhaps a few other benefits.

(1) Plan the arena to accomodate hockey... somehow.

(2) Help kick-start a "Winter Olympics to Portland" effort.

(NOTE: the Oregon Sports Authority has been poking and prodding around this for years, stemming back to when Calgary hosted. Never mind last year's unearthed story of when Portland sought the 1968 Summer Olympics. Summer's a pipe dream now, with no thanks to Atlanta.)

(3) Help actually win the thing. That's going to require some major moguls work.

- Hope that Denver or Reno or Salt Lake can't get the 2018 bid.

- Convince whomever that, unlike Whistler, Mount Hood isn't that subject to weather whims. Good luck with that.

- Get many other people with money behind you... not the least of which is one suburb that could be cajoled into building a "recreational skating plaza" that's just reasonably short of the size of a domed stadium and can host speed skating. That, BTW, is of no use to Portland State, as offered in the testimony of those who have attempted to field sports teams (hockey, indoor football) in the Utah Olympic Oval.

- Most of all, convince people that PSU can build bigger than the current plan of 4,500 at a renovated Stott... possibly on the order of 11,000, or at least something that's temporarily expandable to 11,000. If Memorial Coliseum were going to retain its current size (and it shouldn't), then a PSU arena wouldn't need to hold more than 7,500, maybe even as small as 6,000.

- Oh, as an aside, you don't win a bid by including Bend. It's too far, the IOC will tell you that, and the IOC has previously dealt harshly with bait-and-switch techniques. Eugene would have half a chance of that (and they have all of one arena that could hold hockey right now, and it kind of sucks).

Personally, I think Portland could do a Summer games much better than Atlanta did... but since Atlanta royally screwed the pooch, have you noticed only New York and Chicago have been the US bid (and neither have won)?

Just thinking way out loud here. 'Twas a nice dream, anyway.

 

[VikThunder1]

I like your idea of using some vehicle like the Olympics to get a PSU arena built. I just think the Olympics are out of Portland's league. Chicago's bid to host the summer games cost tens of millions of dollars and their bid was squashed. Vancouver is buried in Olympic debt.

I think the better approach to getting an arena built is to tie it in with ccnventions and having a facility like that downtown. If they're is a convention tie-in, the City of Portland and the Portland Development Commission could be involved in funding by using hotel fees, rental car fees and spectator funds to underwrite the facility.

 

[ManOfVision]

Did anyone notice that one of the three finalists for the Rose Quarter redevelopment is assuming that PSU basketball will play in a renovated Coliseum? I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this, but I think I'd rather have a new on-campus arena that held 4,500 than an off-campus arena that held 6-7,000.

http://www.marcpdx.org/

 

[freja]

you are more apt to get by in from city/county if it's off-campus...more uses for more people; anything is better than the Stott, sorry to say.

 

[Pounder]

I skipped a very important item- chances are that, if land can be secured, PSU would get a dorm complex that begins it's life as the athletes' village. That's exactly what happened in Atlanta.

That, BTW, would almost certainly be the state chipping in... unless the rights fee from TV (mostly the American network) actually was able to cover that. That rights fee paid for Atlanta's Olympic Stadium, which became Turner Field (Atlanta Braves).

BTW- sorry for the confusion. NY and Chicago were summer games bids, I'm talking winter, something more realistic for Portland. How much? Who knows?

 

[WiViking]

If RQ redevelopment goes forward the developer is going to be Cordish. For an example of what they want to do, see the KC Power & Light District video. Paul Allen's goal is stuff to accompany the Rose Garden and other existing buildings. The MC is not part of the plan at the current stage.

However, all of this hinges on whether or not the RQ is added to the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area, something that could negatively affect a lot of the neighborhoods in NE Portland if not done carefully.

I'd much rather wait and see what we can do on or near campus than try to throw our chips in with this project, impressive as it might be to look at.

 

[ManOfVision]

If RQ redevelopment goes forward the developer is going to be Cordish. For an example of what they want to do, see the KC Power & Light District video. Paul Allen's goal is stuff to accompany the Rose Garden and other existing buildings. The MC is not part of the plan at the current stage.

However, all of this hinges on whether or not the RQ is added to the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Area, something that could negatively affect a lot of the neighborhoods in NE Portland if not done carefully.

I'd much rather wait and see what we can do on or near campus than try to throw our chips in with this project, impressive as it might be to look at.

I agree that the Jumptown idea from the Blazers and Cordish is the most likely to win, and truthfully, I think it is the best of the finalists. I'm just pointing out the other option because I find it interesting that the other bidder is talking as if PSU would participate. I don't know that PSU has actually committed to move basketball back to the MC, yet these folks talk as if they have.