News An Oct. 26, 1960, article from the Oregon Journal reveals the Portland Beavers have considered moving to Lents before -- to a Southeast Portland farm site once owned by A.V. and Robertina Folkman. That farm site eventually became Eastport Plaza, the shopping center now on Southeast 82nd Avenue between Holgate and Powell boulevards. Jim Running, an Oregon Journal staff writer in 1960, writes: "With ...   More

News The cafeteria of Lent Elementary School near the site of Merritt Paulson's proposed baseball stadium was crowded Wednesday night with Lents neighbors who had questions about the proposal and its funding as well as the stadium's possible impact on the Southeast Portland neighborhood. And, oh man, was it heated. Commissioner Randy Leonard was one of the first people to speak at the meeting convened ...   More

News At the end of last night's meeting of the Lents neighborhood association, residents took a straw poll by quickly raising their hands to indicate whether they supported building a new public-private baseball stadium in Lents Park. A neighborhood association rep also asked folks to indicate if they were undecided. Merritt Paulson, the owner of the Portland Beavers baseball team that wants to ...   More

News The media-hungry folks at People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals often strike out on the "scorecard of good taste" when it comes to their appetite for attention. But here's at least a single's worth of news: Portland's PGE Park ranks third in PETA's lineup of America's top-10 vegetarian-friendly minor league ballparks. Turns out PGE Park scores well for its offerings of Gardenburgers, ...   More

News The push to build a minor-league baseball stadium in Lents got personal last week as team-owner Merritt Paulson's lobbyist, Greg Peden, tried to meet and speak individually with the 15 members of the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Advisory Committee. The committee is the all-volunteer group that Commissioner Dan Saltzman, the swing vote on the impending deal, is looking to for guidance on whether ...   More

News The Foster-Powell Neighborhood Association, which overlaps the Lents Town Center Urban Renewal Area, has officially voiced its opposition [PDF] to Merritt Paulson's minor-league baseball stadium proposal. In the letter posted above, Erica Bjerning, chair of the Southeast Portland neighborhood association, writes: Residents were polled months ago on their opinion of having a lovely stadium in ...   More

News The great-grandson of Oliver P. Lent, the founding father of the Lents neighborhood in Southeast Portland, is -- wait for it -- 85-year-old Oliver P. Lent, a lifelong Portlander who was raised in Lents but now lives in Northeast Portland. This morning, the day before the Lents urban renewal advisory group is to vote on the proposal to build a new minor-league baseball stadium in Lents with $42.3 ...   More

News We'll have more on the stadium deal, as KGW is reporting that Beavers owner Merritt Paulson is pulling his Lents stadium proposal, in a bit. Maybe Paulson's decision arose from last night's community meeting, which did not go well for Paulson or Commissioner Randy Leonard. Leonard went before Lents residents again to make his pitch for putting minor-league baseball in Lents Park, but the ...   More

News Merritt Paulson was at PGE Park bright and early at 8 am this morning, following a very hostile meeting in Southeast Portland Thursday night. This morning, he also sent the following letter to Mayor Sam Adams and City Commissioners: June 19, 2009 Dear Mayor Adams and Commissioners: Nearly one year ago when we announced our desire to bring Major League Soccer to Portland at PGE Park ...   More

News Dennis Randazzo, a commercial real estate broker in Portland, wrote to WW to add one more idea to the mix about where to put Triple-A baseball now that the Lents neighborhood is off the table. The idea is a surprising one: Put it next to Madison High School [PDF] off NE 82nd Avenue in the Roseway neighborhood. Randazzo writes in an email: Attached is a "suggestion" I made to Commissioner Leonard's ...   More