Build Out

From 96 ideas, the future of Memorial Coliseum is now whittled down to three concepts. Last night the Rose Quarter Stakeholder Committee voted to advance the Trail Blazers’ Jumptown, Doug Obletz’s Memorial Athletic and Recreation Center (MARC) and the Veteran’s Memorial Arts and Athletic Center (VMAAC) onto the next round. It will be exciting to […]

It only took two hours last night for the Rose Quarter development process to effectively narrow down the 96 ideas people submitted for how to reuse Memorial Coliseum to a slim top eight they are seriously considering. Memorial Coliseum roller coaster is looking like it’ll get the boot, folks. Public input and a straw vote […]

Zack Soto Hundreds of people squeezed into the small, chilly seats surrounding Memorial Coliseum’s ice rink tonight to get a quick snapshot of dozens of public ideas about how to reuse the historic building. BUT FIRST THINGS FIRST! Most importantly, I finally met the mysterious guys who want the city to build a massive roller […]

Developer Doug Obletz sees the discussion over the future use of Memorial Coliseum as a David vs. Goliath scenario. Tonight Obletz will pitch his vision for the Coliseum, the Memorial Athletic & Recreation Center (MARC), just one of 100 ideas to be presented publicly along with the Blazers’ vision of the Coliseum as part of […]

What a bunch of procrastinators. On the last day of the city’s deadline, Portlanders submitted a whopping 34 proposals for how to redevelop Memorial Coliseum. The pitch that snagged headlines last Friday, of course, was the Trail Blazers’ proposal to keep the WinterHawks in the MC and build a Nike Museum close by. The 33 […]

The Trail Blazers’ development team officially released its proposal to redevelop Memorial Coliseum this week, handing copies to City Commissioners and apparently to the Oregonian before the plan has been posted on the city’s website. The big news about their vision for Memorial Coliseum is its plan to build the rumored Nike Museum across the […]

This week’s news section includes a round-up and analysis of some of the citizen-pitched ideas for Memorial Coliseum, like turning the building into a velodrome or museum. Profiling some of the 40-odd ideas culled from citizen submissions to the Rose Quarter development website begs the question: do any of them stand a chance? Mayor Adams […]

I rode the MAX to the end of the line in Hillsboro last night, departing on foot into a vast empty parking lot between a post office and a Taco Del Mar. OPB and Pamplin newspapers chose this scenic location, the Hillsboro Civic Center, to host a debate between Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Washington […]

This afternoon I found myself standing on a narrow metal platform above a 120 foot pit outside the Portland Opera House. Standing next to me was the nonchalant Chris Gomez, a man who has spent seven hours a day, five days a week for the past two years tunneling beneath Portland to build the largest […]

In early September, Mayor Adams asked Portlanders submit their ideas via Twitter for what to do with Memorial Coliseum. In our blog poll, “giant shark tank” came in only seven popularity points below “year round farmer’s market.” Luckily for Portland, the Mayor’s office has extended the deadline for Memorial Coliseum makeover pitches to January 8th […]