Willamette Week| News| Politics

For decades Portland's Civic Stadium has been operating in the red and sliding into disrepair. Its artificial-turf playing field looks like a bad toupee. The 72-year-old stadium can't accommodate disabled people or survive an earthquake. Without a $40 million overhaul, the stadium may have to shut down by July 2000.

But the old concrete bowl has a new lease on life. Classic urban stadiums are the rage in the sports world today: Camden Yards in Baltimore, Jacobs Field in Cleveland and the new Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco all try to replicate the nostalgic qualities found in Civic Stadium. Now two suitors are vying for a chance to turn Portland's tarnished old gem into the crown jewel of a new neighborhood.

Their interest is understandable. Civic Stadium is a key piece of city furniture--it's 10 blocks from the high-rise heart of downtown and even closer to affluent neighborhoods in Northwest Portland. The new westside MAX runs by the stadium's front door. Portland even stands a chance of attracting Major League Baseball and soccer to Civic Stadium--after all, it's the largest city in the country to have just one major-league sports team (the NBA's Trail Blazers).

As early as next week, city officials may select the future managers of Civic Stadium. It's a huge decision. As one of the proposals to the city noted, "We're not just talking about putting in a few more seats at the historic Civic. There is an opportunity to redevelop an entire section of the Portland, with implications not just for the neighborhood but for the entire Metropolitan Area."

The two teams competing to rebuild the 30,000-seat Civic Stadium each have an impressive array of talents and an intriguing mix of ideas. Below is our attempt to introduce the teams, summarize their assets and report a few other important facts about the future of Civic Stadium.

1. Who wants to run Civic Stadium?
* Civic Stadium Group: Key players: Jack Galmiche, former pro-soccer player who was vice president of the St. Louis Blues hockey team; Bob Scanlan, president of a local real-estate firm
* Portland Family Entertainment: Key players: Marshall Glickman, former president of the Portland Trail Blazers; Mark Gardiner, former chief financial officer for the City of Portland

2. Who's on their bench?
CS GROUP: Hoffman Construction, architecture firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca and members of the Bring Major League Baseball to Portland group
PFE: Enron Energy Services, Wilshire Ventures, Bechtel Enterprises, Louis Dreyfus Property Group and Bill Graham Presents, a subsidiary of the country's largest concert promoter

3. Cost of Phase 1 (basic improvements) and public share of costs
CS GROUP: $47 million; CS Group says it's premature to provide details of the public/private mix, but its goal is to get at least 50 percent from private funding
PFE: $37 million; $18 million coming from taxpayers

4. Cost of Phase 2 improvements (MLB-ready)
CS GROUP: $115 million
PFE: $225 million

5. Number of seats in Phase 1 and 2
CS GROUP: Phase 1: 29,386 baseball; 33,710 soccer/football
Phase 2: 42,000 baseball; 46,273 soccer/football
PFE: Phase 1: 20,169 baseball; 23,417 football; 26,917 soccer
Phase 2: 34,000 baseball; soccer/football unspecified

6. Chief differences in approach
CS GROUP: CS Group is more intent on bringing MLB to Portland; it wants to spend $1.1 million of its own money in the next six months on its plan and on recruiting a team.
PFE: PFE sees MLB as a more distant possibility and appears more content with Triple-A baseball, major-league soccer and concerts; it wants to get started now.

7. Odds of attracting an MLB team
CS GROUP: 50-50 on relocating an existing team; "inevitable" on getting an expansion team, says Bob Scanlan
PFE: 10 percent on relocating an existing team; better than 50 percent on getting an expansion team, says Marshall Glickman

MLB: FIELD OF DREAMS OR PIPE DREAM?

1. Cost of newest ballparks and taxpayer share:
Seattle (1999) Total cost: $418 million, public share $340 million from sales tax on food and beverages, tax on rental cars, ticket surcharge, state lottery and vanity license-plate fees

San Francisco (2000) Total cost: $306 million, public share $0 (vote on stadium tax rejected by voters)

Houston (2000) Total cost: $250 million, public share $180 million raised from car-rental tax, hotel/motel tax

Detroit (2000) Total cost: $240 million, public share $95 million from state Strategic Fund and Downtown Development Authority

2. MLB teams considering relocation:
Oakland Athletics, Minnesota Twins, Montreal Expos

3. Only cities larger than Portland without MLB:
Washington, D.C. (close to Baltimore Orioles, already has three other major-league teams--Redskins, Capitals, Wizards); Sacramento (close to Oakland As and San Francisco Giants); Orlando (Florida already has two major-league teams)

4. Cities smaller than Portland with MLB:
Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Kansas City

5. Cities considered Portland's top competition:
Charlotte, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, Nashville, Hartford, Columbus

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Willamette Week | originally published December 9, 1998