Portland, Ore. — The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA), a non-profit, board-governed organization dedicated to ensuring equitable competition for Oregon high school students, today announced they support the Trail Blazers and Winterhawks concept for a revitalized Memorial Coliseum.
OSAA Competitions, including Dance & Drill, brought more than 4,000 participants and 42,000 spectators to Memorial Coliseum in 2009.
Today’s announcement – along with January’s Rose Festival endorsement and the initial project partnership with the Winterhawks – reflects a core strength of the Trail Blazers/Winterhawks plan: protecting and enhancing existing community uses of Memorial Coliseum.
“Thousands of participants and spectators enjoy our cheerleading, wrestling and dance and drill championships each year,” said Tom Welter, Executive Director of the OSAA. “We appreciate and support the Trail Blazers new plan for a revitalized Coliseum complex that will accommodate our events in the years to come. The revitalized arena bowl will greatly enhance our events and allow us to continue to showcase the talents of our young people.”
Last year, more than 4,000 students and 42,000 supporters attended OSAA competitions at Memorial Coliseum, including Dance & Drill, Cheerleading and Wrestling. These community events helped contribute to the 430,000 people who visited the venue last year.
Next month, the OSAA 6A boys’ and girls’ state basketball tournament returns to the Rose Quarter, March 10-13, 2010, at the Rose Garden. The tournament will attract approximately 45,500 additional fans to the Rose Quarter. Previously, the OSAA basketball tournament was held at Memorial Coliseum from 1966-2003.
“We appreciate OSAA’s decision to support for our plan for a modernized Memorial Coliseum,” Trail Blazers President Larry Miller said. “We are very proud of our history of support for high school athletics, and we hope to continue hosting memorable family moments in an even more desirable, enlivened Memorial Coliseum setting.”
The Trail Blazers and Winterhawks concept for Memorial Coliseum includes:
• A new community athletic center — open for patrons of all income levels — at the event level of the Memorial Coliseum.
• A designated meeting space for veterans, as originally promised during construction, and a more visible memorial element to better honor their sacrifice and service.
• Daily-use restaurants to increase the building’s activity and draw.
• Preservation of the building’s architectural character, value and history as a veterans’ memorial and multi-purpose sports arena.
• A revitalized arena — with the interior bowl preserved — featuring new amenities and reduced seating capacity to better match promoter demand, attract new events and ensure a bright future the building’s many community uses.
“We hope to make a revitalized Memorial Coliseum part of Portland’s proud tradition of forward-looking projects,” Miller said. “Our plan is guided by the communications we’ve had with stakeholders throughout the community, and realizes the economic, environmental, and architectural benefits of protecting the historically-listed interior arena bowl.”
The Rose Quarter’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee will next meet tomorrow, February 9, from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the offices of the Portland Development Commission. The committee will review public input from the January 26 public presentations and begin the process of determining which proposers will be invited to further discuss their proposals.
