Oregon Public Broadcasting

Wednesday night, the Portland Trail Blazers face the Phoenix Suns at the Memorial Coliseum.

Blazer games at the Coliseum were a regular thing for the team’s first 25 years, before they moved next door to the Rose Garden. But Wednesday night’s preseason game is about nostalgia, and it comes as the Blazers, and city officials look this week at the possible future of the Coliseum and the surrounding neighborhood.

As Rob Manning reports, the Blazers have a big say in what happens to the Rose Quarter.

From a glass-paneled suite inside the Rose Garden before a preseason game, Trail Blazers’ president Larry Miller says the team has been interested in improving the Rose Quarter since long before he arrived three years ago.

Larry Miller: “One of the first conversations I had with Paul Allen was about development of the Rose Quarter. And to me, when the Rose Garden was first built – there was a vision for what the Rose Quarter could be. And it was that the Rose Quarter would be the center of sports and entertainment for Portland.”

Plans for the Rose Quarter and Memorial Coliseum have floated and sunk with little change. The Blazers hurried out a proposal last summer to protect their development rights, when the city considered demolishing the Coliseum and building a baseball park.

Miller says the Blazers' new vision would keep the Coliseum intact. The concert bowl inside is a different matter.

Larry Miller: “The bowl, you know, we’ll look at that, and we’ll look at what is the best use of the building, and inside the bowl.”

The Blazers suggest the bowl would be more useful as an amphitheater. They want to cut its capacity in half – from more than 12,000 seats, to around 6000.

That could run into trouble with preservationists who helped place the Coliseum on the National Register of Historic Places. The Blazers’ plans go well beyond the Coliseum, though

Larry Miller: “We’re looking at restaurants, bars, retail, clubs, potentially a boutique hotel.”

Even a museum run by Miller’s former, employer, Nike, is on the table.

J. Isaac: “As you can see, this is a pretty prime spot for development. You’re immediately adjacent to the convention center, the Bus Mall, and you’re visible to I-5.”

Trail Blazers’ senior vice president, J. Isaac, took members of the city's Rose Quarter advisory committee on a tour of the area.

Committee members, like business advocate, Sam Brooks, were intrigued.

Sam Brooks: “But you also need to make sure that there are opportunities for businesses that are part of Portland, and in this area, and also employment in Portland, and in this area.”

12-year-old Jules Renaud serves as the youth representative on the advisory committee.

Jules Renaud: “A better park area – because they have a water fountain, but I think kids would like something a little bit more. And better transportation.”

Arts’ advocate, Virginia Sewell, is supportive – to a point – of the Blazers’ entertainment plans.

Virginia Sewell: “Sure, depending on how it’s done. It has to be tasteful.”

Blazers’ official, J. Isaac brought the group to the top of a city-owned parking garage.

J. Isaac: "Come in a little closer."

He proposed knocking the place down, and building a covered plaza. 

J. Isaac: “These are city-owned garages, and obviously, anything we do here would have to be done with the approval and support of the city. But I just wanted you to see just exactly what the opportunity was here....”

Even though the city owns this garage, the Blazers have development rights for some of the best property in the Rose Quarter. And while the city is currently accepting proposals, the mayor’s spokesman, Roy Kaufman, acknowledges that the Blazers have a big advantage.

Roy Kaufman “It’s true that they have certain development rights moving forward, but I think what we’ll see is, or what we expect to see is the same sort of cooperation and partnership in developing it. Because the Blazers' vision for the Rose Quarter, it’s aligning with the city’s vision for the Rose Quarter.” 

The cooperation could get tested on one broad aspect: Kaufman says the city wants to see housing as a component of Rose Quarter development. But back inside the Rose Garden arena, Blazers’ president, Larry Miller, says that’s not in their immediate plans.

Larry Miller: “Uh, potentially, it will be a part of – it won’t be part of the first phase. But potentially, as we move into additional phases, that is definitely something that could be a part of it.”

Blazers’ officials say they plan to vet their proposal with the public in the next few months.

The advisory committee is looking for competing proposals, but some in the development community say the Blazers won’t face much competition.

That’s because the Blazers have two advantages: they have development rights in the Rose Quarter, and they have an operating agreement which gives the team influence over what happens at the Coliseum, too.