Oregon Public Broadcasting

Plans to knock down Portland’s Memorial Coliseum and erect a new baseball stadium are on hold for the time being.

Mayor Sam Adams announced Monday that he’s delaying this week’s planned council vote on the new ballpark for a week, to study other options.

Adams says the decision revives an earlier idea from the Portland Trail Blazers - to turn the Coliseum into the “live block” of an entertainment district development.

Sam Adams: “We already have on the table the option of accommodating Triple-A, tearing down Memorial Coliseum. I want to make sure we put good quality time in looking at the option of accommodating Triple-A, keeping Memorial Coliseum, potentially, for the ‘live space,’ re-purposed, in an economically - long-term economically viable way.”

Adams says keeping Memorial Coliseum would likely addto the overall cost of projects in the Rose Quarter - because historic preservation is more expensive than demolition.

Initial plans to renovate PGE Park downtown and build a new ballpark in the Rose Quarter were budgeted at close to $90 million. The plans are in high gear to satisfy conditions for Portland to get a Major League Soccer team for the 2011 season.