Oregon Public Broadcasting

Portland commissioners took a tentative step last night toward changing what happens inside the Memorial Coliseum. But the big question is – what about the Blazers?

The Portland Trail Blazers are one of three finalists to re-design Memorial Coliseum, but they also run it now, and that gives the team influence over what happens there. Last month, city leaders tried unsuccessfully to get the Blazers to renegotiate that deal.  City commissioner Nick Fish worried that the Blazers advantage might scare off the other competitors. “I don’t want the good people who have put time and energy into this to go through a futile exercise – and that’s what I’m concerned about," he said.Advisory committee member Rosemary Colliver said she trusts that the Blazers will negotiate in good faith, so competitors shouldn’t drop out. “I think that would be a tragedy. I think it would be tragic at this state of this process, because I really do believe that it’s a red herring," she said.In the end, commissioners voted unanimously to plow ahead with final proposals. Still, Commissioner Randy Leonard tried to even the score for competitors by directing the city to audit the Blazers’ Coliseum operations - including information the team considers private.“It would be in the Blazers’ best interests to make sure that they are as transparent as they can possibly be in dealing with us on the current facility, particularly if they expect us to enter into a new agreement with them on some re-vamped facility in the Rose Quarter," he said.A final decision on the Coliseum’s future is expected this summer.