Viking Pavilion

[forestgreen]

Mar 25, 2015
Fortis Awarded the Portland State University Stott Center Renovation & Viking Pavilion

Fortis Construction has been selected as the Construction Manager/General Contractor within an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) team for the Peter W. Stott Center renovation and the new construction of a multipurpose arena or “Viking Pavilion.”

The existing Stott Center facility—home to PSU’s athletic, health and physical education programs—was constructed in 1966 and has a combined area of approximately 132,000 square feet. It will be modernized to better support both PSU athletic and academic programs while improving access, safety and efficiency/sustainability. Approximately 30,000 square feet of the renovated Stott Center will be for student advising, tutoring, studying and classrooms. The new Viking Pavilion, pictured below, will host PSU basketball and volleyball as well as academic symposiums, concerts, trade shows, dinners, graduations, etc.

For more information about the project, click here to visit the official PSU website.

http://fortisconstruction.com/blog/fortis-awarded-the-portland-state-university-stott-center-renovation-viking" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[ManOfVision]

I just read that the new arena's capacity has been reduced to 3,100. Why are we thinking so much smaller? Wasn't it going to seat around 4,500? I just think it is crazy not to plan for a little growth. Will this even be big enough to host the conference tournament?

 

[BroadwayVik]

Remember, the conference tournament will be played in Reno from now on.



Not having at least 4,000 seating seems like missing the mark. I was hoping for on-campus graduation ceremonies there instead of having to go to the Moda Center. It still might be doable if there are separate ceremonies for undergraduate, masters and doctorate levels. Tickets to graduation may become awfully scarce. Can you imagine scalpers out front?

 

[martymoose]

Remember, the conference tournament will be played in Reno from now on.



Not having at least 4,000 seating seems like missing the mark. I was hoping for on-campus graduation ceremonies there instead of having to go to the Moda Center. It still might be doable if there are separate ceremonies for undergraduate, masters and doctorate levels. Tickets to graduation may become awfully scarce. Can you imagine scalpers out front?

I agree 100%

An on-campus graduation is something that PSU needs to have. My daughter's school spreads it over three days in their own venue based on the individual school. Although their venue is much larger than what seems to be planned with the Viking Pavilion.

 

[bigskyconf]

Not to be a negative Nellie here, but with OHSU being the major donor (7.5 mil of a 35 mil project), and with the capacity going down to the size of a major medical conference, I just hope we don't run into scheduling problems with the basketball team like we currently have with the Timbers and our football team. My head would hurt tremendously if we can't get an on-campus college tournament going because OHSU has the Pavilion reserved for some big-wig from the Mayo Clinic.

 

[BroadwayVik]

The arena count dropping 31 percent of its capacity is disturbing but may be recoverable. The solution would be to design the arena so that, with later funding, the additional seating can be added back in -- either behind the initial seating or by creating the means for vertical stacking (or both). If that is the plan, we have no problem starting with 3,100 and working capacity up from there.

An earlier report http://goviks.com/news/2015/3/10/athletics_0310153646.aspx?path=athletics
stated, however, that $44M had been raised for the project and the desire was to increase the amount to $49M, ostensibly for some added benefits. What happened to the missing $9M already raised? Additionally, was any of the hoped-for $5M raised and, if so, what became of it?

Is the $35M an initial funding with the additional $9M (or $14M) to be invested subsequently? Do I smell corruption or has this fund been earmarked appropriately for a second phase of the project?

Why the redesign? Is it better than before or is it now a stripped down version of what was before? I believe an audit by the state may be in order. Shall we alert the authorities?

Perhaps we should first await a response. Maybe there is a good explanation. We must have accountability here.

 

[thundercatt99]

This article dated June 2 says seating is 5,500. Did they get it wrong?

http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2015/06/viking_pavilion_project_awarde.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[BobWoodshed]

I think people might mixing up capacities for different types of events. 5500 seems to be the capacity listed for big events where they put chairs on the floor and ~3000ish the capacity for basketball. It is a mixed use facility, so capacities may be listed differently depending on event type.

 

[BroadwayVik]

So now we don't really know what is going to happen. I do believe the last artist's rendering of the Viking Pavilion is the correct one, though. It is an attractive exterior.

We need to hear back from insiders like you, ForestGreen, or you, ScottHood. What has happened to the Viking Pavilion? Is it being made into something not as good now?

Please, fill us in. I hope you can allay our fears and concerns. What happened to the rest of the wampum? Is it being redirected to bolster another area? What?

Now the investment amount is down to $32M. Where's the rest of it? The building looks to be as half as tall as that of the original design. What exactly is going on?

Maybe Mark Rountree can address this in his monthly video address.

 

[martymoose]

Definitely looks to be not as tall and quite a bit different. Hard to tell from the latest single drawing of the outside. I agree, it has an attractive exterior that will look great on our campus.

Need to see more architectural drawings to draw a conclusion about the 3100 seating for athletics. While this is a great step forward for the University and athletics, it would be a shame to only increase our capacity for athletic events by only 1600.

 

[ManOfVision]

Again, one only needs to look at the Chiles Center to see that you can have 4-5,000 seats in a perfectly nice arrangement without busting the bank or expanding the footprint dramatically. This really shouldn't be that hard or that expensive.

 

[BroadwayVik]

So why in the hell is OHSU-PSU self-limiting the number to a mere 3,100?



Is there a method to this design madness? Is there room for additional seating later on? Is 3,100 sufficient for OHSU's needs and PSU needs to show that additional seating needs to first be justified by game attendance?

 

[DavidKeys]

I just read that the new arena's capacity has been reduced to 3,100

Where did you read this? What publication/posting/official document?

 

[martymoose]

I just read that the new arena's capacity has been reduced to 3,100

Where did you read this? What publication/posting/official document?

The 3,100 figure was in the general contractor press release:

http://www.goviks.com/news/2015/6/2/athletics_0602155547.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Pounder]

If the contract with Fortis is $32 million, how much are the architects paid? Are there utilities offsets; did something have to be paid to the city?

As for the original numbers, never discount the possibility of a media error. Did we count all pledges as contributions before something was held back?

 

[forestgreen]

A little disappointed to hear this, I was hoping for about a 4,000 to 5,000 seat venue:

Notes on our state's top coaches and players, a smaller Viking Pavilion, a home for PSU football, Greg Oden and more

http://portlandtribune.com/pt/12-sports/297272-174488-notes-on-our-states-top-coaches-and-players-a-smaller-viking-pavilion-a-home-for-psu-football-greg-oden-and-more

• When plans were drawn and fundraising ensued for Portland State’s “Viking Pavilion and Academic Center,” the capacity was projected as 5,000 — roughly the same as the University of Portland’s Chiles Center.

It turns out maximum seating at the multi-use facility that will house Viking basketball will be nowhere close.

“The capacity is going to be between 3,000 and 3,100,” PSU athletic director Mark Rountree says.

Why?

“The original estimates were made back in 2012, and (5,000) was the number people were looking at,” Rountree says. “Since then, we’ve had input from architects. With the design of the building and the footprint of the space (where Stott Center now stands), (5,000) doesn’t fit.

“I like the capacity. We have a gym now that seats 1,000, so we’re tripling the size. It’s going to be a great venue for college basketball. The seats are all close to the floor. It’s an intimate environment. I think 3,000 is the right number.”

Stott Center’s capacity is listed at 1,775, which “can be expanded to more than 2,000 for volleyball,” according to the PSU website. So the new arena won’t even double the current ceiling for seating.

My feeling is, the downgrade in capacity is shortsighted. If you’re going to run a Division I program, you need an arena that seats more than 3,000. If you ever get a top-flight program — and that would ostensibly be the goal — you want to have an arena big enough to accommodate all fans. A 3,000-seat arena is too small to host state high school basketball tournaments, too, while 5,000 is about ideal in today’s environment.

It would also seem that you’re limiting possibilities as a concert venue for mid-level acts, though Rountree denies this. “There’s little difference between 3,000 and 5,000 in terms of (attracting musical and entertainment performances),” he says.

State bonding covers about $22 million of the $50-million project. The rest is paid for from contributions for donors who were told the venue would seat 5,000.

“We’ve talked to those individuals,” Rountree says, “and we haven’t heard any complaints.”

Groundbreaking on the project is expected within a month. The target completion date is January 2018.

• Portland State football has had to play at least one home game off-campus at Hillsboro Stadium over the past few seasons instead of at Providence Park due to purported conflicts with the Portland Timbers. Rountree says that won’t be the case for the 2016 campaign following negotiations with Peregrine Sports LLC — the Timbers’ managing company — and Timbers president Mike Golub.

“All five of our home games will be at Providence Park,” he says. “We’ve had a very good relationship with the Timbers, Peregrine Sports and Mike. They’re working with us to make sure we can play all of our games there.”

 

[Pounder]

Series of guesses time:

I do NOT think that OHSU is calling a lot of shots here. If anything, I bet their needs are more for midweek and long past basketball season events.

I tend to think fundraising ran short.

I don't know if the size of the current building (per the article) is really an issue or not. It might be?

I also note two rather important factors that would make sense even if fundraising didn't run short:

1) The average attendance in the Big Sky Conference for basketball is around 2,100. It was about 2,400 in 2005 and has generally declined from there. I shudder to think what those numbers would look like if Weber State were not in this conference.

2) The general trend for Division 1 basketball has been somewhat downward for years.

Even so, I tend to think building the thing bigger could have scored several different events for Portland State that it won't get at 3,000. It's a bummer. I suspect the choices were limited, though.

 

[Viktorious]

Some renderings and floor plan of the Viking Pavilion on this webpage:

http://www.nextportland.com/2016/04/04/viking-pavilion/

 

[Pounder]

Bye bye windows open to the north. Of course, I think making the entrance along the park blocks makes more sense.

Eh, shrug.

 

[bigskyconf]

Dwight Jaynes not impressed with "shrinking" Pavilion.

http://www.csnnw.com/ncaa/case-portland-states-incredible-new-shrinking-arena