Posted Sep 20, 2012, 12:39 AM
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PSU sets $44M arena plan
Premium content from Portland Business Journal by Matthew Kish , Business Journal staff writer
Date: Friday, September 7, 2012, 3:00am PDT
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/print-edition/2012/09/07/psu-sets-44m-arena-plan.html?s=print
Quote:
Portland State University has tipped off a $44 million effort to renovate its outdated basketball arena, the latest step in the university’s transformation from a sleepy commuter school to a vibrant urban hub.
The renovation of the Peter W. Stott Center will be funded by $20 million in donor gifts — including a just-received $5 million anonymous donation — and hopefully $24 million in state bonds.
Portland State President Wim Wiewel said the project is “symbolic of PSU’s growth as a civic institution” and reflects its desire to be an “anchor institution” for the metropolitan area, a model that’s increasingly popular with urban universities that provide meeting space for civic and cultural events, not just classrooms for students.
With the $5 million anonymous gift, Portland State has raised $8.1 million of the $20 million it hopes to raise from donors. If the Legislature approves Portland State’s request for $24 million in bond funding during its 2013 session, construction could begin as early as January 2014 and finish in November 2015.
The current basketball arena in the Stott Center seats 1,500. The project entails building a new glass-enclosed 4,800-seat basketball court that would face the Park Blocks and provide passers-by a view of the inside of the arena.
The existing basketball court would remain and serve as a practice facility for the university’s athletic teams and as additional meeting space for conventions and other events. It could also be used as a secondary court during athletic tournaments.
Wiewel’s vision is for the building to serve as a “knowledge commons” that provides informal meeting space for groups, classes and civic events.
It’s the latest in a string of significant capital projects on the Portland State campus:
University Pointe, a 978-bed dormitory at the south end of campus, will open this month.
A nearly $73 million student rec center opened in 2010.
The engineering college, Shattuck Hall, Lincoln Hall and Neuberger Hall have undergone significant recent renovations.
Most significantly, this summer Portland city commissioners created a $169 million urban renewal around Portland State’s campus. Although the Stott Center is outside of the district and not eligible for urban renewal funds, the new district ensures that Portland State’s rapid growth will continue.
In the past decade, Portland State’s student population has grown faster than any of the state’s public universities. It now exceeds 30,000 students, more than 50 percent higher than a decade ago.
Portland State officials forecast the arena renovation would create 396 construction jobs. The renovated building would support 24 full-time jobs.
The renovated arena could host 140 events a year and attract 330,000 attendees, generating $7.5 million in event-related spending (not including admission costs).
The renovated arena has tentatively been named Viking Pavilion, but that name could change depending on the success of the university’s fundraising efforts.
Peter Stott’s name will also remain on the existing building. Stott is leading the fundraising effort for the project, which began in June.
“There’s a lot of excitement in the community for this project,” said Stott, a Portland State alum and president of Columbia Investments Limited, a real estate holding company. “There’s such a need for this type of venue and such a need for this type of venue within a university. We find the donors are very receptive.”
Stott’s goal is to raise $12 million from donors by the end of the year.
The project ranks No. 6 on a list of 28 capital projects recently submitted to the state for bond funding. Governor John Kitzhaber’s proposed budget for the 2013-2015 fiscal years, which comes out in December, will provide the first indication of whether the project is likely to receive state support.
Wiewel said the building’s dual use as academic space makes it more likely that it’ll receive bond funding.
“It has such a strong academic need justification,” he said.
Wiewel was struck by the inadequacy of the basketball arena when he toured the campus before becoming president in 2008.
“I said, ‘Man, this is a high school gym.’ In fact, I’ve been in high schools that have nicer gyms than this.”
Athletic director Torre Chisholm called the proposed arena “iconic” because of its glass-enclosed design and said it would give the university’s athletic recruiting efforts a boost.
“This would easily be the best in the conference,” he said.
The men’s basketball team finished third in the Big Sky Conference last year with a 17-15 record. The women’s basketball team finished seventh with a record of 15-14.
Chisholm said the renovated arena could be used for high school basketball tournaments, martial arts tournaments and other youth sporting events.
Matthew Kish covers banking, finance and higher education.
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