One of the core strengths of the Trail Blazers/Winterhawks approach is its reverence for the architectural character of Memorial Coliseum and for community uses of the building — including the Rose Festival, OSAA competitions, and graduations. The concept ensures a long-term future for the Grand Floral Parade at Memorial Coliseum.

“We appreciate that Trail Blazers have put forth a concept for the Memorial Coliseum that accommodates one of the world’s great community events,” said Jeff Curtis, Executive Director of the Rose Festival Foundation. “The original design of the Memorial Coliseum specifically accommodated the iconic Grand Floral Parade, a key architectural and community feature that would be lost with a radical intervention of the building’s interior bowl.”

The original Skidmore, Owings and Merrill design for the Memorial Coliseum placed large doors at either end of the facility to accommodate Rose Festival Parade floats.

“We are honored to earn the Rose Festival Foundation’s support for our concept, and will continue to lead by listening,” Trail Blazers President Larry Miller said. “A common theme throughout our community outreach is the expectation that our vision for the Rose Quarter protects existing community uses like the Grand Floral Parade.”

The Trail Blazer 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.

• 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 bowl with new amenities and a reduced seating capacity to match promoter demand, attract new events and ensure a bright future for the Winterhawks, Rose Festival, graduations and other current community uses.

Portlanders interested in hearing more about the Trail Blazers/Winterhawks concept are encouraged to attend a public forum sponsored by the Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum. To attend the free event, you must register and print your admission ticket at roserqdev.org.

Attached, in its entirety, is the submission made by the Trail Blazers/Winterhawks project team to the City of Portland’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee today in response to the call for concepts for the renovation or adaptive reuse of Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Guided by your public input, the Trail Blazers and our project partners have submitted a project plan in accordance with guiding principles stated throughout this Web site. Ours is a plan that would create non-event amenities at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the benefit of our east side neighbors; the first step toward a green and vibrant campus that would connect adjacent communities and provide a cultural link to the “JumpTown” jazz and entertainment district that preceded the Coliseum.

We now look forward to the next step in the process, an opportunity to present our proposal to the Stakeholder Advisory Committee at a public forum at the Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday, January 26.

Intro/Concept Description

Thank you for the opportunity to present our concept for the Veterans Memorial Coliseum (VMC), a historically important venue that will play a central role in transforming the Rose Quarter into a green, vibrant, and economically viable neighborhood.

We’ve assembled a project team with the experience and resources to complete a vision that creates jobs, connects neighborhoods and spurs economic development on Portland’s eastside.

A modernized and more intimate VMC: We will preserve the building’s architectural character, value and history as a veterans’ memorial and multi-purpose sports arena. We will create a more attractive venue by reducing seating capacity to match promoter demand. New club seating, restaurants, regulation ice sheet, and a state-of-the-art scoreboard will help attract new events and ensure a bright future for the Winterhawks, Rose Festival parade and other community users.

Non-event activity: We will add restaurants to the VMC concourse that will make the venue accessible to the public on non-event days. We will better utilize event level space by creating a community athletic center that will also serve as an additional practice facility for the Trail Blazers, Winterhawks and visiting teams.

Honoring veterans: We will designate a meeting space in the VMC, accessible for veterans’ gatherings and other uses, as requested during outreach. We will continue to partner with veterans for memorial elements that increase access and visibility to pay proper tribute to veterans’ service and sacrifice.

Green, vibrant mixed-use district: The VMC will be integrated into the design plan for JumpTown – a mixed-use development including office, retail, restaurants, housing, free live events and more. JumpTown will help increase activity at the VMC and add to the 430,000 guests who visit the arena each year. A vibrant, mixed-use district, with a potential 250-room hotel, holds the promise of additional Convention Center business, visitors and conventioneers.

1. Project Team

For 40 years, the Trail Blazers have worked to substantially contribute to Portland’s eastside, serving as a source of civic pride and generating more than $4.5 billion in economic impact for greater Portland. The Trail Blazers provide global marketing reach, community relationships and a proud history of public service and local involvement.

The Cordish Companies bring a track record of developing 7 ULI award-winning districts that successfully navigate complex adaptive reuse issues while reflecting their location’s context and character. As one of the most successful real estate development firms in the country, Cordish offers extensive expertise on mixed-use entertainment districts and enters its eleventh decade well-capitalized and in a strong position to bring substantial private resources to the project.

Nike’s iconic global brand started with a handshake between Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight on the day of a track meet at the VMC. Since then, the company has grown to an unrivaled global marketer of athletic footwear, apparel and equipment.

AEG, one of the world’s leading sports and entertainment companies and manager and developer of both LA’s Staples Center and London’s O2 mixed-use developments, provides deep experience and market knowledge to the project.

The Winterhawks: As the major tenant of the VMC, the Winterhawks organization benefits from a loyal fan base of Portlanders and a unique appreciation of the needs and requirements for a modernized, enhanced venue.

Design team: Rick Potestio has “long been regarded as one of the most talented local architects of his generation,” according to the Portland Architecture blog. Design Collective is an award-winning firm with a portfolio of successful mixed-use entertainment and adaptive reuse projects, including LEED-certified and historically listed buildings. Nike’s Tinker Hatfield, a northeast Portland resident, has been named one of Fortune Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Designers of the Century.

2. Community Benefit

Modernization of the VMC will preserve a vital public asset, and serve as a central element in revitalizing the Rose Quarter campus –
breathing new life into the district. Our expert team has the resources to ensure a financially viable development that follows Portland’s proud
tradition of forward-looking projects.

Financial benefits:

· Our approach preserves and increases the economic benefits of the VMC’s value as a multipurpose sports area that
hosted 154 major events attended by 430,000 visitors last year. Currently, VMC event user fees and parking revenue generate revenue of approximately
$300,000 each year for the city of Portland.

· An enhanced VMC will help attract new events and offer a more intimate venue better suited to Portland’s market.

· JumpTown will help revitalize surrounding areas and foster additional private investment, job creation and transit-oriented development. The project will add millions of dollars to tax rolls.

· The JumpTown district will create thousands of construction and permanent jobs— prioritizing MBE and WBE contractors—and increase activity for VMC.

· A vibrant, mixed-use district—and potential 250-room hotel—holds the promise to attract additional visitors and conventioneers to the region.

Community benefits:

· JumpTown will create a new community gathering place for Portland’s eastside, including free live events more than 150 days a year.

· Community events such as the Rose Festival parade, Oregon School Activities Association events, and graduation ceremonies will benefit from an enlivened facility.

· The district will feature leading green-building technologies to showcase Portland’s sustainable values to the rest of the country.

· A new community athletic center—open for patrons of all income levels—at the event level of the VMC and designated meeting space for veterans will increase the building’s activity and draw.

· Adjacent neighborhoods will benefit from a more vibrant Rose Quarter with increased amenities and retail options.

3. Financial Viability

At a time when many sports teams across the country were fleeing to the suburbs, the Trail Blazers invested more than $230 million in private funds toward construction of the Rose Garden in Portland’s central city. The agreement conferred management rights to the VMC—creating efficiencies and an economy of scale for the entire complex—and dedicated parking revenue and user fees for the city’s spectator fund.

This partnership has helped generate more than $60 million in revenue for the city of Portland’s spectator fund. Even without an operational subsidy, the VMC nearly breaks even each year, and our proposal will significantly increase revenue to the city by creating a more attractive venue for fans and promoters, reducing operating costs, and ensuring a consistent revenue stream.

The Trail Blazers will leverage substantial private investment in the larger district to help increase the number of visitors each year. The team has already
acquired the waterfront parcel as a future site for office and housing and has partnered with a developer with access to deep private resources and relevant
experience.

We’ve outlined community and economic benefits in question 2, but strongly believe that our vision holds the potential to create additional private investment in the surrounding area, thousands of permanent jobs for everyday Portlanders, and an accessible, vibrant community gathering place for local music, food
and culture. Rose Quarter development will require public and private investment for the district’s long-term success. The Trail Blazers hope to build on existing partnerships with the city for a district that adds new life to Portland’s eastside.

We recognize the complexity of the site and have assembled a development team with award-winning experience navigating difficult projects, including Cordish’s highly specialized expertise. We’re also committed to a robust public process that informs a project rooted in Portland values and local talent.

4. Architectural and Historical Significance

One of the core strengths of our concept for JumpTown is putting preservation and reverence for the VMC’s architectural character at the center of our plan. We protect the VMC’s defining features by preserving the building’s exterior and original bowl, while improving and modernizing it for increased use for what the building was originally designed to be: a multipurpose sports venue.

We are regularly engaging preservationist and architect stakeholders and working to create an enhanced VMC compatible with the arena’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, our team has also enlisted the talent and skill of noted architect and VMC preservationist Rick Potestio to craft a sensitive, thoughtful building enhancement.

· Our modernization preserves the building’s glass curtain wall to maintain the structure’s transparency and the original seating bowl.

· To create a more intimate experience, we will reduce seating capacity by modifying, not reducing, the building’s interior bowl. We will remove some upper seating rows for club and party decks.· We will create two strategically placed apertures on the east and west side of the lower portion of the upper bowl to open the concourse to the bowl, further accentuating the building’s natural light and unparalleled city views

· A new NHL regulation ice sheet will reduce seating capacity, and embrace a more modern arena environment.

· Our approach will make better use of event level spaces, including converting a portion into a community athletic facility as a gathering place for students, local athletes and inner city youth.

· Arena upgrades—such as club seating, state-of-the-art scoreboard, regulation ice sheet, better dining—will complement, not detract from, the building’s architectural integrity.

· The Trail Blazers are also proud to have played a significant role in the VMC’s original preservation in the 1990s at a time when other teams were demolishing comparable venues.

5. Veterans Memorial

The Trail Blazers and project team appreciate the input and guidance of the many veterans who have already weighed in on behalf of an enhanced memorial to better honor their service and sacrifice. We expect our approach to be further shaped by the work of the stakeholder advisory group’s veterans subcommittee. It’s important to us that veterans help guide the future of this meaningful gathering place and memorial to their courage and sacrifice.

Our current work-in-progress approach focuses on creating better access, visibility and connectivity for the memorial aspects of the Coliseum. We intend to meet this objective in several ways. First, we’re considering a new park-like setting as a memorial, perhaps on the parcel adjacent to the Broadway Bridge, to honor Oregon veterans of all wars, not just those who served prior to 1960. Our hope is that the new space will foster contemplation
and remembrance, while better connecting the memorial to the river, an important part of Portland’s shipbuilding past. Second, we believe a new iconic memorial element at the entrance to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum at concourse level will increase visibility and prominence. Third, we will designate a large meeting space in the building, accessible at all hours, specifically for veterans’ gatherings and other uses as veterans see fit. Veterans have requested that this element—originally proposed during the initial construction 50 years ago—be incorporated into our approach.

Many of the veterans we’ve met with consider the building itself to be a memorial. We believe our approach protects the VMC while breathing new life into the building for its long-term stability and success. A sustainable, economically viable VMC will attract new visitors and contribute to a revitalized Rose Quarter district for Portland’s eastside. For veterans and other Portlanders committed to the building’s preservation, our approach will secure and enhance an important memorial to Oregon’s bravest.

6. Sustainability

“In almost any scenario, demolition and replacement of the existing building with a new building, no matter how green, would not result in a more sustainable outcome, while representing a huge loss for the heritage of Portland and the built environment.” (USGBC letter to City Council, April 22, 2009)

The Trail Blazers are proud to have played a major role in the VMC’s original preservation during construction of the Rose Garden. Renovation of the VMC
will help conserve finite resources, reduce landfill waste and help mitigate carbon impacts.

Our approach to the VMC builds on existing efforts to make the Portland Trail Blazers the greenest team in the NBA.

Green practices under consideration include:

· USGBC’s LEED standards for existing buildings as a guide for the VMC’s design and construction

· On-site renewable energy and waste treatment systems such as solar, wind and anaerobic systems for the VMC

· Water conservation and high-efficiency plumbing, rainwater harvesting, and storm-water management systems

· Heat island effect mitigation by increasing tree cover and incorporating green streets

· Sustainable purchasing policies, including superior diversion rates and food-waste composting

· Building and construction material reuse and recycling

· A potential farmer’s market to connect local growers with Portland families

· Electric vehicle charging stations to encourage Portland’s leadership in the emerging EV market

· Transit-oriented design that takes advantage of the incoming streetcar and multimodal transportation options for the district

· Increased bike parking for the district’s many cycling commuters

· Enhanced amenities such as restaurants, retail, and grocer to create a more livable, pedestrian friendly neighborhood consistent with the goal of a 20-minute community

· Energy efficiency upgrades to the VMC to improve environmental and economic performance

7. Flexibility

During construction of the Rose Garden, the city and Trail Blazers agreed to an arrangement for the VMC to create operational efficiencies and economies of scale for management of the entire campus. The RQ shares staff, management and overhead to reduce costs. Also, the campus’ two
major arenas create a unique offering for event promoters, given the lack of comparable side-by-side venues in other markets. This competitive advantage provided by the VMC helps secure events such as the Davis Cup and plenary sessions for conventions using the Oregon Convention Center.

Our approach will build on these efficiencies and create a more vibrant area surrounding the VMC for increased activity for the venue. Elements
outlined elsewhere in this proposal—free live music and events, a hotel, a collection of Oregon craft breweries, a potential farmers’ market—will
increase activity and generate more visitors to the VMC.

We also put the Winterhawks’ fan base and other longtime tenants such as the Rose Festival and OSAA at the starting point of our approach. By anchoring our concept to the largest existing user and its proven market, we build off what works and improve the building for its highest and best use: a multipurpose sports arena. The VMC design was specifically created to accommodate the Rose Festival parade and hockey, with flexibility to accommodate various uses. A new athletic center for community use will also provide the flexibility to serve as occasional practice facilities for the Portland Trail Blazers, Winterhawks and visiting teams.

We’re working within the larger district to create flexible retail amenities that respond to the marketplace and provide opportunities for local businesses and smaller vendors. These pop-up retail pods will be mobile, temporary and most easily described as a retail equivalent of Portland’s thriving food cart scene. This concept will accommodate shifting market conditions and help meet seasonally driven consumer demand.

8. Connectivity

Our approach preserves the VMC as a multipurpose sports facility with excellent transportation links and connections. And our vision for the district will help increase visitors and better connect JumpTown to adjacent communities.

Here are some of the options we’re exploring:

· Streetcar: We intend to reorient the district with retail and other attractors on lower Broadway to take advantage of the new streetcar and encourage additional private investment in the adjacent areas.

· Willamette River and greenway
connection: We are looking at dedicating the parcel at the base of the Broadway Bridge as a designated space for veterans’ remembrance and reflection. Future development on the waterfront property will help improve our connections to the river.

· Bike and ped amenities: We will create a more inviting campus for foot and bike traffic thought the district, increase bike parking, and add businesses that give cyclists a reason to stop.

· Farmers’ market: We are exploring the potential of a farmers’ market that connects local consumers with Oregon farmers.

· Workforce housing: The potential workforce housing could help create a more seamless connection to surrounding neighborhoods and the river, adding to the area’s vitality.

· Lloyd District and Convention Center connectivity: JumpTown will feature restaurants, breweries and other amenities to give Lloyd District and Convention Centers workers, visitors and residents more choices and options for a 20-minute neighborhood.

· Eco-district: Our planning will work in partnership with efforts to create an eco-district for the larger area, featuring elements such as electric car charging stations and a large stock of energy-efficient green buildings.

· Increased retail frontage on Broadway: Our plan includes additional retail space for a significantly improved streetscape. This will create a
more welcoming, pedestrian-friendly front door for the district while still increasing overall parking capacity.

9. Economic Impact

Our project approach will create thousands of construction jobs and permanent positions once built. In addition, we will ensure that local women and minority contractors have an opportunity to bid on and contribute to the construction of an enlivened VMC and vibrant Rose Quarter. The Trail Blazers are proud of our record exceeding City MBE and WBE goals during construction of the Rose Garden and are firmly committed to ensuring this once-in-a-generation project provides similar opportunities. In addition, Cordish brings a strong record of exceeding MBE and WBE goals on each one of their projects.

Today, the VMC and its 430,000 annual visitors generate more than $11 million in direct economic benefits each year to Portland’s hard-hit local economy.

Impacts of our approach will include the following:

· Support for plenary sessions from the Oregon Convention Center and events –such as the US Figure Skating Championships and Alli Dew Tour Sports —accommodated by the campus’ unique dual arena offering

· An enlivened VMC to help attract non-event activities and an enhanced, more modernized facility for fans and users

· Leveraging additional private investment and transit-oriented development in adjacent neighborhoods

· Increased daytime restaurant and entertainment choices for central city workers and residents, positively affecting the neighborhood’s business climate for those nearby

· Increased convention business and visitor dollars with substantially increased entertainment amenities and the potential creation of a new 250-room hotel

· Pop-up retail pods that provide economic opportunity for local businesses and smaller vendors

· A farmers’ market that helps local Portlanders access affordable, high-quality local food from Oregon growers

· Highlighting Oregon’s craft brewing sector to JumpTown visitors

· Reinforcing Portland’s reputation as a leader in the green economy through leading-edge environmental practices

· Thousands of new jobs and millions added to the city’s tax rolls

10. Existing Rose Quarter and Surrounding Uses

The Rose Quarter is in an enviable position to provide extensive venue and public facilities options. Meeting rooms, outdoor plazas, theater configurations, and a world-class 20,000 seat arena create a wide array of venues in which users can host successful events.

The concept builds on the existing Rose Quarter flexible and creative spaces, while establishing a more intimate, open and modern environment at the VMC. Our concept complements existing facilities in a number of ways:

Facility booking: A modernized VMC will be an affordable, more intimate alternative to the Rose Garden, giving promoters great planning flexibility. Most current and potential users who do not or cannot regularly fill the VMC’s 12,000 seating capacity will embrace our approach for reduced seating. Event producers are conscious of the event environment and wary of risking empty seats that detract from the exciting, dynamic environment they seek to create.

Date availability: For event promoters, this is a key issue. During the prime season for arena events, the Rose Garden’s availability for open dates is sharply limited due to holds for annual events, franchise sports and other major tours. The options become even more limited
when a potential event requires a single Friday or Saturday or spans an entire weekend. For this reason, our concept for a more appropriately sized and modernized VMC will create additional weekend dates during a time when certain events enjoy the greatest opportunity to succeed. And an enhanced VMC will complement the Rose Garden by avoiding tying up the larger facility at key times when a more intimate venue best serves the event.

Competitive advantages: Promoters use many of the RQ campus’ facilities in conjunction with one another. Maintaining the VMC as a multipurpose event space will build on our success attracting events such as the ALLI Dew Tour and the 2005 US Figure Skating Championships that require our unique offering of side-by-side venues.

11. Cultural Heritage

· Authenticity: The original district served as a gathering place for North and Northeast Portland and a hub for jazz and top musical talent. We intend to create a new music and entertainment venue in which Portlanders can meet, while avoiding a neo-historic approach that would lack authenticity.

· Accessibility: The clubs and venues of the 1940s and 50s hosted everyday Portlanders from all walks of life. Our concept for JumpTown reflects this spirit of accessibility and inclusion with concerts and events that are free and open to the public. Our live block will serve as a community gathering place, just as the original neighborhood acted as a magnet for folks from all over the
area.

· Economic opportunity: As chronicled in Robert Dietsche’s book “Jump Town, The Golden Years of Portland Jazz”, the post-war shipbuilding industry—and cheap Bonneville power—was central to the area’s development as a jazz center. People migrated to the area from the American South and elsewhere because of jobs and the chance for a better life.

“If it were not for the completion of Bonneville Dam in 1937, the golden age of jazz and the flowering of Williams Avenue would never have happened.”

—Robert Dietsche, “Jump Town, The Golden Years of Portland Jazz”

We intend to build a district that creates economic opportunity and thousands of permanent positions for everyday Portlanders today.

· JumpTown oral history project: We intend to honor the area’s cultural heritage through interviews with elders and artists from the community. This oral history project will connect people in an interesting, interactive and meaningful way. Drawing inspiration from the Boise Voices project, we will explore ways to engage students to learn more about the area’s history through hands-on, direct research and exploration.

Portland, Ore. –

The proposed concept would revitalize Portland’s iconic arena as part of the Trail Blazers larger vision for a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood at the Rose Quarter. The concept advocates a reduced seating capacity at Memorial Coliseum to create a more intimate venue for the Winterhawks, the arena’s anchor tenant, and other users. The changes will also help attract new events and will add non-event activity to further enliven the venue.

“We look forward to working with the Trail Blazers to provide the Winterhawks and our fans a true home ice advantage,” Winterhawks President Doug Piper said. “A revitalized Memorial Coliseum will help ensure our long-term future with an intimate, first-class facility in a building rich with hockey history that dates back nearly 50 years.”

The plan would provide a true home for the WHL club, with upgrades that would include a new state-of-the-art scoreboard, an ice sheet upgraded to league-regulated size and new fan amenities, like club seating, to improve the fan experience. Fans will also have upgraded dining options, including a wider variety of concession options and increased points of sale.

“Hockey has a tremendous history in Portland,” Trail Blazers President Larry Miller said. “We are pleased to partner with the Winterhawks for an even stronger project. An invigorated Memorial Coliseum will play a central role in a neighborhood that’s green, vibrant and economically sustainable for the city of Portland.”

The teams will work with the Mayor’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee to ensure the plan includes a memorial to the veterans who served the country with great honor.

The plan would upgrade Memorial Coliseum amenities to attract more visitors to this important part of Portland’s eastside. Already, Memorial Coliseum draws more than 430,000 guests each year for more than 150 events, including the Winterhawks, the Rose Festival, Oregon School Activities Association events, and other community gatherings. The plan preserves the building’s architectural integrity and expressiveness while modernizing the venue for current and future Portland tenants.

The Memorial Coliseum is an essential element of the mixed-use sports and entertainment district being proposed by the Trail Blazers for the Rose Quarter. Project leaders are working to create a district that fosters additional private investment in the area and provides thousands of construction and permanent jobs.

For more information on Rose Quarter, or to provide your feedback on the best future for the Quarter, visit www.imaginejumptown.com or the Portland Development Commission’s site at www.rosequarterdevelopment.org.