A plan to tear down Portland’s Memorial Coliseum to make way for a new ballpark is opposed by local architects, who say the 49-year-old facility is architecturally signficant.
A plan to tear down Portland’s Memorial Coliseum to make way for a new ballpark is opposed by local architects, who say the 49-year-old facility is architecturally signficant.
The arena was very much of its era when it opened in 1960: huge glass panes gave total views of the actual arena inside, leading locals to call it a “porcelain tea cup in the glass box.” Fans can sit in the seating bowl and see the Willamette River outside. It served as the first home of the Portland Trail Blazers when that team entered the NBA; most recently it has served as the home of the Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) and other events. It has not been maintained particularly well, with many fans complaining of dirty surfaces and unrepaired problems. In many ways, the construction of the Rose Garden next door made Memorial Coliseum financially obsolete.
Still, local preservationists say the structure should be saved. They’re asking Mayor Sam Adams to stop the plans for its demolition to make way for a new Portland Beavers ballpark, and they’re working on a plan to place the facility on the National Register of Historic Places — something that would certainly slow down the city’s plans.
