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Given that New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is asking for $1 billion to build a new stadium for the Yankees, we should be thankful that the current price tag for a baseball park in downtown Portland is only $160 million. Then again, the true cost of a major-league facility in Portland will probably exceed that figure, once you add a retractable roof ($100 million or so), adequate parking and the other amenities and subsidies that a major-league baseball owner might demand, should he or she agree to move a team here. We don't mean to hail on the growing parade of those who wish to see pro baseball come to town. We, too, would just as soon not have to board Amtrak and head to Seattle to see major-league ball. But we're troubled by how the feverish boosterism of the past few weeks has conveniently overlooked a few important realities. We won't take the space here to argue that there are a number of more pressing investments--in public education, in the arts, in affordable housing--that taxpayers should consider before joining the chase for a professional sports team. Now is not the time to have that debate. In addition, some supporters claim that much of the money to refurbish Civic Stadium would come from private sources; we are enormously skeptical of this claim but are willing to suspend disbelief, at least temporarily. There are, however, other challenges facing any plan to ready Civic Stadium for professional baseball--challenges that the public ought to confront along with all the wonderful visions of balmy summer evenings in the bleachers with a pint of microbrew: * Civic Stadium is currently a multi-use facility. It has been home to Portland State University football, concerts, high-school events, major-league soccer and more. Were the stadium to be used for major-league baseball, almost all of these tenants would be locked out. Although PSU football will be building its own practice field, a number of other Civic Stadium users would become orphans were this plan to take shape. * Civic Stadium is currently a public property. Were it to be converted into a professional baseball stadium, its status would have to change into a profit center for major-league baseball. Are Portlanders ready for this? * Despite the hype, history does not suggest a great likelihood of a major-league baseball team moving here. Pro baseball teams just don't do this very often. The last time such a move occurred was 26 years ago, in 1972, when the Washington Senators became the Texas Rangers. Although some teams are threatening to leave their cities, more often than not this is a game of poker in which the team is simply trying to negotiate (or blackmail) a city into coming up with more tax dollars. Portland should not reject major-league baseball out of hand, though our city's historic reluctance to join the chase has frankly been one of our more admirable qualities. But if we are to consider such a possibility, let's at least approach the matter with a dose of reality. |
