I've stayed away from this subject because I'm kind of an architectural doofus. I love good ballpark architecture when I see it, but that's about it.

But all of the bad weather around the country lately has made me think that someone needs to come up with a UNIQUE ballpark design that is appropriate to the UNIQUE weather that we have in the Pacific Northwest. I think most architects are pretty lazy and they just find something great and copy it.

An example of this laziness that I read about was this skyscraper in New York where they copied the design from a building in Houston. The building had a sloped roof. Well, guess what happened in the wintertime to the building in New York? Snow accumulated until it got heavy and then it slid off and crashed onto the ground, almost killing people. So they had to do this expensive retrofit with heating elements on top so the snow wouldn't accumulate. Whoops.

Anyway, my point is that I don't think we need a roof because it rarely rains enough here that a game would be rained out. But it would be ideal to have a design that keeps the fans comfortable in April-Rose Parade when it is usually drizzle and 50-65 degrees, but is also inviting during Rose Parade-September when it is 70-85 degrees and perfect outside.

I don't want a retractable roof. I think they are ugly, uninviting, unnecessary (in PDX), and they detract from the ballpark experience on a glorious summer day.

I don't want a "roof over the seats only"... You'd still get rain and cold weather especially in the expensive lower bowl seats.

Is there any way someone can design a stadium that works in PDX all baseball season long? Or, since attendance typically stinks everywhere in April & May, does it really matter?

I have an observation: I have lived here all my life and with all the ice melting world wide (Al G. warned us twenty years ago people), I have come to the conclusion that the moisture/water formerly in the ice is now in the atmosphere in liquid of gasous form. The melted ice has to go somewhere, right?

There is just more moisture in our air. Storms are stronger here in the last few years. Landslides are becoming more frequent. I have never see this many thunderstorms in my life. We are having storms in the summer that remind me of the videos of Midwest Storms.

The weathermen and women are always underestimating the intensity and amount of rainfall. Their computer models are not taking into account the increase in moisture in the atmosphere.

Has anyone else noticed this?

I bring this up for two reasons. Just to let you all know this observation and because I believe a MLB Stadium should have a roof of some type.

I would like a unique roof that is movable, light in heavy, strong in its structure and support, and locally manufactured.

I have mentioned one concept for a roof over the MC site before so I will not go into it now.

I think we need two design reviews and scoping of the MC and Blanchard sites.

BB

I think we need a solid plan to get a team first, let the stadium design come second!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Rockstar:
I think we need a solid plan to get a team first, let the stadium design come second!!!

A solid plan comes when there are team to vie for. You can't simply pluck them out of thin air, they have to be available.

Watch MLB's financial situation. If it levels off or starts to drop, that's when expansion should occur.

Maury
Are you thinking that relocation is completely out of the question for at least the next 10 years? If yes, then what is the historical cycle of MLB financial situation (how often do these see bad years?).

Any answer or thoughts Maury. As stated by you if MLB financial's are in order then expansion may be next in line, so what does history tells us in years, I know it is a guess, but what does the crystal ball show in regards to the good vs. the bad years financially?

Solution(?)... - Texas Stadium-type roof, but with a glass top (like the one at the airport) and a larger (baseball diamond-sized) opening.

Interesting idea! Sounds like a unique thing to PDX.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockstar:
Any answer or thoughts Maury. As stated by you if MLB financial's are in order then expansion may be next in line, so what does history tells us in years, I know it is a guess, but what does the crystal ball show in regards to the good vs. the bad years financially?

As I said, there's information out there. Best way for me to help you is to teach you to fish. Your assumptions are going to be based on targets that have some bearing on where you are going, but in many ways have to be adjusted due to the point in time (pre-revenue sharing, pre-luxury tax, pre-RSNs, etc.). It's more complicated than where you are looking.

In the here-and-now (which is shifting, as well), I can tell you that the current CBA, when published, has a fixed-rate component for all 30 clubs. In other words, revenue sharing (or a facet of revenue sharing) is based on revenues defined across 30 clubs. As far as I know, there is nothing defining how expansion would be handled in this agreement. If there is no contingency (as I mentioned, I need to check with the Commissioner's Office on this), then one could extrapolate out that MLB is not planning on expansion for the life of the current CBA just reached.