Portland Diamond Project (MLB) | Proposed

[scleeb]

This would be so awesome! It would be very reminiscent of Wrigley. Tucked into a mixed use neighborhood. SO AWESOME

[PdX Farr]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

WOW!

The mall is dead, but wow, what an opportunity with such a huge piece of land. It's a one in a lifetime opportunity.

They could extend the streetcar a few blocks further east to connect directly to it. The MAX already has a fantastic connection to it.

What an opportunity! This would make so much sense if they could pull it off.

Honest question, does anyone truly use the street car for commuting? I would hardly think it would be helpful with crowd control pre/post game.

[subterranean]

Originally Posted by PdX Farr

Honest question, does anyone truly use the street car for commuting? I would hardly think it would be helpful with crowd control pre/post game.

If they do, it's about as fast as walking and a lot slower than riding a bike. I view the streetcar as primarily for tourists and the elderly.

[eric cantona]

Originally Posted by subterranean

If they do, it's about as fast as walking and a lot slower than riding a bike. I view the streetcar as primarily for tourists and the elderly.

I used to live right next to a streetcar stop in the Lloyd and would use it to get to a job in inner SE, or to go to the pearl. Definitely faster than walking in either direction, but not at the same level of MAX.

That said, the lack of speed and capacity would likely account for a very small percentage of people attending a baseball game. Having MAX in close proximity is really where the effectiveness of transit will be most useful.

Overall, I think this is a much more promising location for baseball. Terminal 2 will require so much infrastructure that the public price tag will be too steep, in my estimation. I'd like to see how this huge edifice will fit in the neighborhood before coming to any conclusions. Assume it can't be worse than the mall and parking garages surrounding it, though.

[green_man]

Lloyd Center could work beautifully (though it remains to be seen how the surrounding neighborhoods react to these rumors). Efforts to rejuvenate the mall have had mixed success at best (is House of Blues ever gonna happen?). The only thing about Terminal 2 that wowed me was the waterfront location.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by eric cantona

I used to live right next to a streetcar stop in the Lloyd and would use it to get to a job in inner SE, or to go to the pearl. Definitely faster than walking in either direction, but not at the same level of MAX.

That said, the lack of speed and capacity would likely account for a very small percentage of people attending a baseball game. Having MAX in close proximity is really where the effectiveness of transit will be most useful.

Overall, I think this is a much more promising location for baseball. Terminal 2 will require so much infrastructure that the public price tag will be too steep, in my estimation. I'd like to see how this huge edifice will fit in the neighborhood before coming to any conclusions. Assume it can't be worse than the mall and parking garages surrounding it, though.

As for how a stadium would fit in to the area, if you look at stadiums like what is in Cleveland and Minneapolis, those two are more on par with the size that would be built in Portland, they are both about 215mX250m, which is roughly from Multnomah to Halsey and NE9th to almost the east end of Macy's. That would leave the entire eastern end of the site open for development, or about 11 Portland size blocks.

[zilfondel]

Originally Posted by pdxf

I think it could engage the waterfront far better. What is that...parking on the waterfront in that first rendering?

I know there likely isn't the density there (yet), to support more restaurants and shops along the water, but it would be great to get a nice dinner at a place right on the water before a game (it would be nice if someday Portland had some real urbanity along the water somewhere instead of just parks). Failing that, it seems like the stadium could do a better job of acknowledging its location and make some gesture towards the water.

I was hoping they were community CSA gardens with an area for EV delivery cars. What, no??

[MarkDaMan]

https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/20...pdx-twist.html

Additional renderings available in article link.

Canzano: The spinning journey of the Jantzen Beach Carousel takes on an MLB to PDX twist
Updated 2:35 PM; Today 8:02 AM

By John Canzano | The Oregonian/OregonLive








Comerica Park -- home of the Detroit Tigers -- has a carousel featuring two chariots and 30 hand-painted tigers behind the first-base area. Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium has a carousel, too. It’s become a ballpark thing, probably because families seem to love them both.

So forgive me for taking more than a passing interest in the news conference scheduled at noon today in Southeast Portland where Mayor Ted Wheeler, a restoration nonprofit, philanthropists and the Portland Diamond Project are expected to reveal the details of a new carousel partnership.

The famous C. W. Parker Four-Row Park Carousel has been in storage for some time. Maybe you know it better as “The Jantzen Beach Carousel” and you might have even ridden the thing as a kid. My wife remembers climbing on one of the horses as a 9-year-old during Rose Festival, looking up at Parker’s handmade work and thinking, “this is big, amazing and beautiful.”

I’m hoping your children will one day get to ride it in front of a Major League Baseball stadium in Portland. But that’s getting way ahead. Because this column — and this day — is mostly about the spinning journey of this 116-year old carousel.

It’s been on some ride, hasn’t it?

...(continues)

[Tykendo]

My GOD! this is a beautiful development. Make it happen powers that be. This stadium is so gorgeous. The whole development with housing, stadium, and that awesome carousel, that i rode on as a kid, and adult, is simply, SPECTACULAR. Hopefully the ownership group can acquire the Rays, or get 1 of the 2 future expansion teams. This Stadium will be a crown jewel, not only for Portland, but for the whole League.

[Malix]

or bring the carousal back to the Lloyd District...and MLB !

[uncommon.name]

Originally Posted by Tykendo

My GOD! this is a beautiful development. Make it happen powers that be. This stadium is so gorgeous. The whole development with housing, stadium, and that awesome carousel, that i rode on as a kid, and adult, is simply, SPECTACULAR. Hopefully the ownership group can acquire the Rays, or get 1 of the 2 future expansion teams. This Stadium will be a crown jewel, not only for Portland, but for the whole League.

Yessss!! I would love to see this transform that area of the waterfront and Slabtown. Incorporate some beautiful high rises around the stadium and that entire area will be revitalized.

[Natural]

The proposal is absolutely spectacular.....but is anybody taking notice in the corner office at MLB HQ? Just crickets.

[Derek]

Yeah, this was exciting at first but I'm not holding my breath any longer. The steam seems to have settled and we haven't gotten any tangible updates in months other than "OMG WE'RE RESTORING AN OLD CAROUSEL"...


Also, the NW location is still absolutely terrible.

[scleeb]

The theater parking lot and theater itself seem to be large enough in terms of square footage to accommodate a MLB baseball stadium. If i remember correctly, the group that had control of the parking lot went bankrupt. I'm curious if the Diamond Project has explored this option...

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by Derek

Yeah, this was exciting at first but I'm not holding my breath any longer. The steam seems to have settled and we haven't gotten any tangible updates in months other than "OMG WE'RE RESTORING AN OLD CAROUSEL"...


Also, the NW location is still absolutely terrible.

Unfortunately that is the MLB for you, they have been dragging their feet with the A's and the Rays for so long that it could be years before anything is ever figured out with those two teams since it doesn't seem like the MLB wants to put any pressure on the owners. Once that is settled, then I could see the MLB putting in a two team expansion in motion that would take several years to enact, and when that happens, Portland will probably be a front runner.

[eric cantona]

What Happened To The MLB-To-Portland Effort?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybr.../#1050b91d35d3

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by eric cantona

What Happened To The MLB-To-Portland Effort?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybr.../#1050b91d35d3

Obviously with the pandemic, nothing is going on at the moment, but there are a lot of cards up in the air with what could happen with bringing MLB to Portland. Currently the A's are hemorrhaging money and could end up with the team being forced to be sold, which the Portland group could snatch up that opportunity. There is also the possibility of the MLB wanting to add an influx of cash to the league by expanding by two teams, which for the West Coast, Portland is in the better position for that to happen.

There is also some negatives with all of this with the economic situation we are in, how willing will the state and city be with helping get a team to Portland? What about the investors with the Portland group, there is a possibility for a number of them to have lost money during this economic downturn that could prevent the group for having the funds to make a team happen.

There is a lot of variables, but overall it looks pretty good with this happening in the near future.

https://1080thefan.radio.com/article...ing-mlb-to-pdx

[eric cantona]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

Obviously with the pandemic, nothing is going on at the moment, but there are a lot of cards up in the air with what could happen with bringing MLB to Portland. Currently the A's are hemorrhaging money and could end up with the team being forced to be sold, which the Portland group could snatch up that opportunity. There is also the possibility of the MLB wanting to add an influx of cash to the league by expanding by two teams, which for the West Coast, Portland is in the better position for that to happen.

There is also some negatives with all of this with the economic situation we are in, how willing will the state and city be with helping get a team to Portland? What about the investors with the Portland group, there is a possibility for a number of them to have lost money during this economic downturn that could prevent the group for having the funds to make a team happen.

There is a lot of variables, but overall it looks pretty good with this happening in the near future.

https://1080thefan.radio.com/article...ing-mlb-to-pdx

I thought it was interesting to see a nod to the Lloyd Center site. Not sure that's been written about until now.

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by eric cantona

I thought it was interesting to see a nod to the Lloyd Center site. Not sure that's been written about until now.

My prediction is that we are either going to get an expansion team or able to buy the A's when they default and will be building the stadium where the Lloyd Center is when it collapses from the loss of stores....or when the big earthquake hits and it literally collapses....2020, so who knows.

[Natural]

If the Lloyd Center site is chosen.......would the current stadium design have to be redesigned? How would the stadium be oriented for the money shot?