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 Since last we checked in on the attendance figures for Major League Soccer a month ago and found a decline of 5.5 percent from the same time period last year, two things have happened. 1) The new franchise in Seattle continues to draw well, pulling in nearly 30,000 fans a game and leading the league by far in attendance. 2) The decline in overall attendance continues to worsen, now dropping ...   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 A new group has formed to voice opposition to Portland's proposed public-private venture with Merritt Paulson to bring minor-league baseball to Lents. That proposal, of course, calls for building a new stadium in the 38-acre Lents Park (pictured above.) Appropriately, the group calls itself Friends of Lents Park. Members may not buy ink by the barrel like The Oregonian, but they are getting ...   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 Commissioner Randy Leonard says this afternoon he will now vote against his own ordinance resolution (PDF) to move forward on the Major League Soccer deal after Beavers/Timbers owner Merritt Paulson's announcement today that he will pull out of the Lents stadium proposal for minor-league baseball. Leonard says he was embarrassed by the reception Paulson got in Lents last night, but suggested ...   More

News While Commissioner Randy Leonard has committed to voting against the Major League Soccer deal going forward now that Beavers/Timbers owner Merritt Paulson announced he's done with the baseball stadium proposal in Lents, Mayor Sam Adams announced this afternoon that "the City's mission is clear: focus our energies on guaranteeing that Portland is the new home of a Major League Soccer team." While ...   More

News Commissioner Dan Saltzman said this afternoon that he still plans to vote for the Major League Soccer deal going forward in a revamped PGE Park, despite Beavers/Timbers owner Merritt Paulson's announcement that he's pulling out of the deal's other piece — moving the minor-league baseball Beavers to a proposed stadium in Lents. Saltzman says he's not a soccer fan but thinks there's a buzz ...   More

News Well, the final two City Council voices are now in on this resolution (PDF) that proposes moving forward on negotiations to revamp PGE Park by 2011 for a Major League Soccer team separately from plans to find a new home to build a minor-league baseball stadium for the Portland Beavers. Commissioner Amanda Fritz said this evening that she stands by her original objections to tapping urban renewal ...   More