Beautiful views of Mt. Hood, sleek wood-and-steel finishes, cheerful diverse Portlanders drinking beer and taking selfies… and a sky tram. These are all present in new renderings of a possible future ballpark in Northwest Portland, released Thursday by the Portland Diamond Project.
We are thrilled to announce that the Portland Diamond Project has signed an agreement in principle with the Port of Portland to develop the Port’s 45-acre Terminal 2 property. Release: https://t.co/Ddi79kP4i7 #MLBtoPDX pic.twitter.com/B7PvImtXvB
— Portland Diamond Project (@PDXDiamondProj) November 29, 2018
The group, founded by former Nike executive Craig Cheeks last year with the aim of bringing a major league team to Portland, released these images along with the announcement of its agreement to purchase the Port of Portland’s Terminal 2 property, with an eye toward building a potential Major League Baseball stadium on the site.
Terminal 2, currently used as a marine cargo terminal, is located along the Willamette River in Northwest Portland’s industrial area.
As the Oregonian reported Wednesday, it’s unclear where the money would come from to develop the stadium. While Mayor Ted Wheeler has expressed support for the project in the past, he’s also said the city wouldn’t subsidize a new stadium under his watch.
Baseball has a rich tradition in Portland. A ballpark along the nw bank of the Willamette River would have a positive impact on our economy while shaping the next great PDX neighborhood. I look forward to working w/@PDXDiamondProj + the Port In moving this initiative forward. https://t.co/EisawdkF1r
— Mayor Ted Wheeler (@tedwheeler) November 29, 2018
If a stadium is built at Terminal 2—and if the city can attract an MLB team—additional transit infrastructure will probably be needed to support it. Right now, just one TriMet bus serves the location, and it doesn’t run on Sundays.
Portland Diamond Project’s Thursday announcement comes a few weeks after the organization announced it was retracting its offer to buy a Portland Public Schools property near the Moda Center.
If you’re curious what affect a new baseball stadium might have on Portland’s already impacted housing market, here’s an interesting article that concludes that “stadiums often can become a massively powerful gentrifying force.”
UGH. People think traffic in that area is a cluster fuck now? No sky tram is going to mitigate the nightmare to come. Why not choose a different location where there is a public transportation hub and copious space for parking?
Sigh… oh, Portland. Take it from a former DC resident: THE MLB IS PLAYING YOU. They are using Portland as a cudgel against other cities to get them to spruce up (or build new) baseball stadiums. “Won’t build us a new stadium? Well, OK, I guess we’ll have to move your beloved team to Portland. They’re DYING for baseball…”
Those concept drawings look pretty. They’re never going to be realized.
It’s amazing how much time and money people will spend on a pipe dream. Cool design. Too bad baseball is so boring.