Quote:
I still can't believe the Yard House made the entrance to their restaurant inside the mall rather than outside. I have yet to meet anyone who has been there that wasn't confused about how to find the place. My god, they're right next door to the Apple Store. What! Were! They! Thinking!? |
Quote:
|
Here's a good barometer for those projects: Would they happen if they had to be built new, for the same prices?
Usually these discussions (which recur all the time, from Houston to Seattle) are fans of a building grasping at what appear to be straws. For example, I can believe that an indoor track would be nice, but (wild guess) I'd be surprised if that was more than six figures in annual ticket revenue, unless a major championship came to town. |
An email I just received from AIA Portland:
Quote:
|
Hmmmmmm - curious, the Rose Festival Foundation?
|
Well probably something about the Rose Festival since it starts up around that time
|
Maybe a new event is being placed there. If the MC was being refurbished, they would probably have members of the Winterhawks there.
|
A friend of mine who works in historic preservation thinks that the National Trust for Historic Preservation is going to name it one of their "National Treasures".
|
Quote:
|
Honest question - what good would come from that? It will continue to be a derelict building without significant investment - and seeing as how we can't even get work done on the roads without a new, specific tax, does anyone honestly foresee that happening?
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
It's an awful memorial to veterans. Sunken granite memorials do little to educate future generations of the sacrifices made. Something interactive and interpretive would do a lot more. I hope there is something more here than a press event. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
These plans are all contingent on maintaining the MC as an arena. What's unfortunate is that the business plan is weak to keep it as an arena. Unless Portland State or UP decide to start playing basketball or hockey there, I don't see how the number of events increases enough to justify the spend, especially with an NBA level arena next door. Keeping the underground exhibit hall space would also be a waste. It already looks like a parking garage down there, you could repurpose it as that and redevelop the garages on Broadway. I'd like to see some proposals that demolishes the inner arena but keeps the outer walls and four posts that hold the place up. Inside that structure, you could build offices, a hotel, something else. What if Regal Cinemas builds a state of the art theater inside that structure? It would keep the integrity of the building while bringing something new to the area. Let's look for a creative reuse and not just assume it has to be an arena. |
turn it into the james beard public market
|
The building doesn't need to attract a new sports team to be viable as an arena. As the report explains, there a quite a few touring shows that would be interested in a venue of Memorial Coliseum's size, but turn it down because of some big issues:
The report outlines the cost of improvements that would address deferred maintenance, and address the functional issues above. If they addressed these issues the venue would be able to hold more shows a year, and would make an operating profit. That to me makes a lot more sense that trying to shoehorn a function into the building that it's not well suited to. |
Quote:
1. How many shows have bypassed Portland? Did most of them find a way to fit at the Moda Center? Are we talking about one event or enough to fill 50 nights a year? Big difference. 2. At most arenas, touring shows make little to no money on Hospitality Suites. For instance, at the Moda Center, if you buy a suite, you get tickets to all events and all of the $$$ goes to the Blazers. 3. Concession revenue usually split between the arena owner and the resident teams. Touring shows don't make money off food concessions. 4. I remember back in the 80s, the reason the Blazers gave for not having a video board was due to the ceiling joists not being able to hold the weight. Then some touring show hung a hung a bunch of stuff and everything was fine. That's when they ordered the video board. My bottom line is that I would like to see the Rose Quarter get some life. In order to do so, there needs to be more year round and day/night activity. Spending a ton of money on refurbishing an arena that may add 20 nights a year of activity will not do it. Let's get creative and see what other ways we can bring life back to that area. A remodeled arena is keeping status quo. We can do better. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
If we want life brought back to the Rose Quarter, it's time to look at ways of reusing the building as something other than an arena. If we keep sticking to notion that it needs to stay an arena, then we'll continue to have this same discussion 10 years from now. |
Quote:
BTW - this building will NEVER be responsible to bringing life back to the Rose Quarter. A) there never was life to bring back at the "Rose Quarter" because it's a fabricated place designed with suburban sensibilities; and B) the entire area needs to be reintegrated into the fabric of the city with a mix of uses and users. that entails pretty massive investment in new construction. |
All times are GMT. The time now is 10:34 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.