A DEAFENING CHORUS of boos greeted multimillionaire Merritt
Paulson as he approached the microphone at a packed Southeast Portland
neighborhood meeting last Thursday, June 18. It wasn’t exactly the
welcome the baseball and soccer team owner wanted to hear—the
next morning he pulled out on plans to build a Triple-A Baseball
stadium in Lents Park, surprising the neighborhood and his allies on
city council.
Some neighbors saw the proposal to funnel $40.3 million of the
area’s urban renewal funds into new Portland Beavers ballpark
construction as a rare chance to bring major change to the
neighborhood. But others feared the stadium would be a financial flop
and questioned Paulson’s motives.
“One two three four, Paulson wants to rob the poor!” chanted
protestors outside the meeting, where Lents’ Urban Renewal Advisory
Committee heard testimony from city officials, Paulson, and neighbors.
When Paulson got his minute at the mic, he tried to counter impressions
that he was steamrolling Lents into building the Beavers ballpark.
“There’s a lot of money at stake, this is your money, this is your
neighborhood, I will embrace whatever decision you make,” said Paulson,
to a smattering of applause. Forty-five locals signed up to speak in
front of the crowd and everyone who spoke had harsh words for the
proposed project. Paulson did not wind up giving neighbors time to take
an official vote—he ducked out of the meeting immediately after
speaking and sent out a letter nixing the deal the very next
morning.
All of the city commissioners—except Randy Leonard—took
the dead deal in stride, focusing their attention on preparations for
turning PGE Park into a Major League Soccer stadium. But Leonard was
irate on Friday, June 19. “He made a deal with me,” said Leonard. He
argues Paulson caved to “the mob” of neighbors instead of letting the
Lents urban renewal group vote on the plan as he originally
promised.
Now, Leonard says he has convinced Paulson to work with him until
August 1 on finding a new site for the stadium, perhaps at the Expo
Center or Portland Meadows.
“I don’t just want to give up on keeping the Beavers in Portland,”
says Leonard.