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Portland appears to have leg up in stadium planning process

BY JOHN HUNT
The Sunday Oregonian
June 6, 2004

Proponents of major league baseball in Portland have work to do to build a strong stadium finance package, but the facility planning is coming together.

HOK Sport, the Kansas City, Mo.-based firm working with the Oregon Stadium Campaign, is calculating figures on four potential stadium sites in Portland.

"We're getting reliable costing information; that's huge," Portland Baseball Group president Steve Kanter said.

Touring the sites with baseball proponents and HOK last week were local civil engineers and representatives from the Oregon Department of Transportation.

"We know where the water lines are and the sewer lines are, but traffic is the main unknown infrastructure item," said architect John Vosmek, who is working as a liaison between the campaign and HOK. "Traffic is a science, and there's theory involved, too. We're getting very good input."

Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia are facing different dilemmas when it comes to stadium placement.

Washington has yet to hire an architect. Its preferred site -- or at least the one preferred by powerful D.C. Council member Jack Evans -- is the so-called Banneker site near L'Enfant Plaza, which presents logistical challenges that would include a cantilevered structure over a freeway.

"Can it be done? Yes. Would it be the ninth wonder of the world? Yes," said one person involved in the relocation process.

Washington has presented a menu of sites to the relocation committee, including the current RFK Stadium site.

Northern Virginia is pushing a site near Dulles International Airport but has not given up on its preferred site in Arlington. The Arlington site is far more desirable not only because of monument views, but also project cost.

The Dulles site comes with a $440 million price tag, $40 million more than the Arlington site, which has infrastructure in place.

Plans to build a conference center on the Arlington site owned by the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation have lost steam.

Northern Virginia proponents say a baseball stadium is the most cost-effective alternative for the Cafritz Foundation, but citizens who don't want a stadium nearby still are a major factor.

Great article! Nice to see some positive press acknowledging the hard work being done behind the scenes. Two things:

1. If DC slips up at any point between now and "when the spade hits the dirt", Portland would hit the ground running with the Expos and MLB knows it. And given the recent snafu by Evans over Banneker, a slip up is a real possibility.

2. If/when one of the other four relocation possibilities is ready to move, Portland will be more than ready for them as well.

Good work, and I can't wait until HOK releases their findings!

This is very good news! This momentum will place additional pressure on MLB to make a decision and keep the heat on DC to either step up to the plate or to get out of the batters box.

I think once we get the numbers from HOK thats when we will know our chances of getting the Expos. We will then know what the actual cost is and then will get the money and hopefully be the first to do so, which from right now thats what it looks to be. I say that its all put on hold for us now until those HOK numbers get here. We will just have to keep pushing the locoals!

So I take it they have narrowed it down to four choices? And those would be?

Thanks Maury.

quote:

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Originally posted by Maury:
_(Not in any order)_

+ Blanchard Site
+ The Post Office Site
+ Union Station Site
+ PGE Park Site

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Any of those sites would be great Place for a stadium, All of our sites are good choices, that cannot be said for D.C. and NoVa though.

Someone said a while ago (and I havn't gotten around to going down and checking it out) that there was a new building going up in one of the blocks that was part of the Union Station site...

I'm not sure about a building going up on the Union Station site...

Nevertheless, for my money the only two viable options are the Blanchard site and the USPS site.

It seems that the USPS site would be the best, but it requires a lot of work with the Post Office.

My take: If DC screws up and Portland gets the Expos, the city builds on the Blanchard site.

If DC gets the Expos, and Portland has to wait another three years, the city builds on the Post Office site.