As many are well aware, the Mayor recently stated a preference that the three Memorial Coliseum finalists work together on a collaborative plan, and the RFP process was put on indefinite hold to explore those possibilities.

The Trail Blazers and Winterhawks have been open to collaboration, and long ago reached out to both the MARC and VMAAC groups to see if there would be a way to work together on the Memorial Coliseum and Rose Quarter planning. All three concepts have much in common, including the central idea of retaining the arena usage of the facility.

For several weeks, we have been in discussions with the MARC and VMAAC groups, the Portland Development Commission and the Mayor’s office about the possibility of a collaborative plan. We are open to any idea that respects, preserves and enhances the Memorial Coliseum, and is economically realistic.

The Mayor has stated that he believes that a final decision on the Memorial Coliseum should be informed by the plan for the broader district, and intends to have the Stakeholder Advisory Committee begin work on the planning for the broader district while the collaboration effort on the Memorial Coliseum proceeds.

We look forward to working with the Committee, the PDC and the Mayor’s office on a plan for the Memorial Coliseum and the Rose Quarter that will realize the potential of the facility and the district.

On Wednesday, fans can be part of this Portland tradition at the third annual Bike-to-Blazers game against Golden State, riding to the game over the Steel Bridge as Walton himself often did.

Cyclists – including Portland Mayor Sam Adams, Metro councilor Rex Burkholder and Bike Portland editor Jonathan Maus, the founder of the event – will meet for a rally at the Salmon Street Fountain at McCall Waterfront Park at 5:30 p.m.

“Thousands of cyclists commute by the Rose Quarter each day,” Portland Trail Blazers President Larry Miller said. “Bike to Blazers encourages active transportation and creates a fun event for Trail Blazers fans and cyclists. Our hope is that people see biking to games as a fun, healthy alternative to driving.”

The event is in partnership with the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, BikePortland.org, Lloyd TMA, Portland Water Bureau, Metro, Community Cycling Center, Portland Bicycle Tours, and the Office of Mayor Sam Adams.

“Trail Blazers basketball and bicycling are two great Portland pastimes. I’m excited to see these two pastimes come together to create an exceptional event that will hopefully become a Portland tradition,” Mayor Adams said.

Highlights of the event will include:

• A free prize raffle for an autographed Bill Walton helmet
• A “dress like Bill Walton” contest
• Community bike awareness events on the Rose Quarter Commons
• A designated bike section for the first 100 ticket buyers, with JumboTron recognition.
• Post game free-throw shooting for participants
• Trail Blazers bike bells for cyclists

“Biking to Trail Blazers games is not only a fun way to get to the Rose Garden, it’s a way to enhance public health and create more livable, vibrant communities,” said Stephanie Noll of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA).

The Trail Blazers are encouraging Portlanders to participate—even if they’re not daily bike commuters. Portland Bicycle Tours is loaning bikes to fans that want to join in the festivities, but are without a bike of their own. Those who cannot make the rally are still encouraged to bike to the game, using route planning assistance from the City of Portland and Tri-Met. Limited covered bike parking is now available at the Rose Garden.

The Bike to Blazers event follows a successful NBA Green Week partnership with the NBA and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), during which the Trail Blazers hosted the U.S. Green Building Council and NBA leadership to officially celebrate the Rose Garden’s LEED Gold certification, an accomplishment made possible in part because of the team’s commitment to sustainable transportation efforts.

“Being green is part of Portlanders’ DNA,” Miller said. “We want to make it easier for fans to reduce their environmental footprint with a full range of transportation options.”

Miller added that bike-friendly development will play an important role in creating a more green, active and enlivened Rose Quarter.
“New amenities for cyclists and active transportation options for visitors have been at the center of our development conversations,” Miller said. “We want to make biking to the Rose Quarter a convenience, because we recognize the benefits to the environment, to public health and to adjacent neighborhoods.”

Special thanks to BikePortland.org for helping make this year’s ride the biggest yet.

The JumpTown vision for a revitalized entertainment district would rekindle the eastside neighborhood’s reputation as the city’s premier gathering place of music, culture and community. The venue would advance Portland’s music scene with about 150 free shows a year under a covered outdoor stage in the Rose Quarter plaza.

“JumpTown will make music, including jazz, more accessible to the people of Portland,” said Bill Royston, Artistic Director of PDX Jazz and the Portland Jazz Festival. “This project will provide the catalyst to present national jazz artists outside of the Portland Jazz Festival each February, while also offering the opportunity to showcase local talent and allow Portland’s next generation of great artists and musicians to inspire us just as an earlier generation was inspired at clubs on Williams Avenue.”

The eastside neighborhood’s indelible cultural history, chronicled in Robert Dietsche’s book “JumpTown: The Golden Years of Portland Jazz, 1942-1957”, served as inspiration for the project’s working title. Some of the most talented jazz artists who’ve ever played –  including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Thelonious Monk – showcased their talents at clubs on or near Williams Avenue.

The Oregon Music Hall of Fame – dedicated to honoring Oregon’s rich musical history and ensuring student access to the arts – recognizes the authentic link to the area’s past and joins the Jazz Festival in support of a new, vibrant center of music and culture.

“JumpTown brings a deliberate tie to an important part of Oregon’s musical history,” Marc Baker of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame said. “But the district is very forward-thinking and inclusive, which is the Portland way. We see a revitalized Rose Quarter as a way of sharing the neighborhood’s history with students to get them excited about new musical talent to inspire the hall of fame inductees of tomorrow.”

In addition to celebrating Oregon musical legends, the Oregon Music Hall of Fame awards scholarships to promising students around the state. Last year’s scholarship winners include Kai Sandoval, recipient of the MVP Award at Britt Jazz Camp, the Louis Armstrong Award and the Maestro Award at the Heritage Festival.

“We are deeply appreciative of the community support and momentum organizations like the Portland Jazz Festival and Oregon Music Hall of Fame bring to this project.” Trail Blazer President Larry Miller said.

The JumpTown vision is an integrated plan to draw daily activity to the Rose Quarter, connect eastside neighborhoods, showcase Portland’s commitment to sustainability, and build on the highest and best use of Memorial Coliseum.

Currently, the Trail Blazers and Portland Winterhawks are partnering on a plan for Memorial Coliseum designed to improve and enhance the building, while adding new amenities to draw daily community activity. Upgrades will also make the building more hospitable for new events to add to the 150 existing major events that drew 430,000 annual visitors to the building last year.

The Portland City Council will soon consider the Trail Blazers/Winterhawks plan for Memorial Coliseum at the recommendation of the Mayor’s 32-member Stakeholder Advisory Committee. The endorsements from the Portland Jazz Festival and Oregon Music Hall of Fame add to the project’s growing list of supporters, including the Oregon School Activities Association and Portland Rose Festival Foundation.

The Trail Blazers/Winterhawks plan for a revitalized Memorial Coliseum – a plan advocating a more intimate venue with new amenities designed to support existing tenants, attract new business and draw daily activity to the Rose Quarter – will be recommended to Portland City Council for the Request For Proposal phase by the Mayor’s 32-member Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC). Last night’s vote represents a milestone in our quest for a vibrant Rose Quarter.

In a vote at the end of Tuesday’s meeting, 21 of 22 SAC members present elected to advance the Trail Blazers/Winterhawks plan, the highest total received by any project. The Memorial Athletic & Recreation Center and the Veteran’s Memorial Arts and Athletic Center also advanced.

Should City Council agree with the recommendations of the SAC, all three groups will have an opportunity to formally present their proposals to the SAC, the PDC and City Council.

“It’s clear that people have given the future of Memorial Coliseum a lot of thought,” JumpTown project leader J. Isaac said. “We’re learning a lot from other teams throughout this process, and will continue to incorporate community input into our plan.”

Tuesday’s meeting included 10-minute presentations from five groups and Q&A participation from two additional groups, followed by a committee vote and public comment. Community Crossroads and Portland Action Sports were designated as alternates, in the event one of the three advanced proposals were to withdraw from the RFP process.

The Vision Into Action organization—representing more than 17,000 Portlanders who’ve weighed in on the future of our city—led the Community Crossroads proposal. More than 50 people were on hand to support their proposal for an inter-cultural community gathering place.

After the vote, tabulated by hand on a tote board by member of the PDC, many Portlanders had the opportunity to deliver public comment. Several impassioned citizens spoke on behalf of Community Crossroads and veterans. Another lauded the Trail Blazers project as one of two that presented a renovated Memorial Coliseum in the context of a revised district that would connect the many adjacent neighborhoods to better serve the eastside.

During the presentations, Isaac and Winterhawks President Doug Piper affirmed their pledge to have community outreach continue to guide and shape the JumpTown team’s approach.

“Each team presenting last night should be proud of its efforts,” Isaac said. “It’s clear that every project team is committed to revitalizing an important neighborhood. We believe we have the right team and the right vision to help shape the future of an important part of Portland’s eastside, and we are looking forward to the next step in the process of bringing that vision to fruition.”

Trail Blazers forward Jeff Pendergraph with Paul Knauls, the unofficial Mayor of NE Portland and owner of Genevas Hair Salon.

The celebration of the jazz and jump music that enriched the post-World War II neighborhood featured a riveting performance by an All-Star band that was headlined by local Jazz legend “Sweet Baby James” Benton.

More than 100 jazz fans and party goers attended the event, including community elders and their families, senior center staff and Urban League executives. Also on hand were Trail Blazers Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph, as well as team legend Jerome Kersey.

Friday night’s musical celebration not only provided a chance to socialize, it allowed the Trail Blazers “JumpTown” project team to honor the musical contributions of the era and to capture primary accounts of what the neighborhood was truly like from people who enjoyed it first-hand.

"Sweet Baby James" Benton and his all-star band delivered music reminiscent of the post-WWII era.

The evening was part of an outreach effort to engage the community in conversation about the Trail Blazers’ proposed “JumpTown” district. a new, vibrant neighborhood that pays homage to the area’s cultural and jazz heritage, provides jobs and connects eastside neighborhoods.

Attendees on Friday experienced great music from local legends, but also had the opportunity to lend their voices to the conversation about how best to revitalize an important part of Portland’s eastside. Many thanks to those attendees, to our community partners, to the Urban League and to Sweet Baby James and his band for delivering an evening that won’t soon be forgotten by those in attendance.

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.