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A stadium on the banks of the Willamette, with views of downtown, the West Hills, and Mt. Hood. A ballpark accessible by auto, MAX, streetcar, and water. A possibility of creating a destination in a prime corner of downtown Portland.

The OMSI site offers an intriguing possibility for Portland's new baseball stadium. Not only is the location full of views, other attractions, and accessible transportation options, but the site also caters to Portland’s long term vision of gaining a Major League Baseball team.

Originally the OMSI site was proposed to save the Memorial Coliseum. Now that the MC appears to have been saved, is this proposal still relevant? Yes! In addition to providing life to Portland's southeast waterfront and attractions on Portland's new streetcar and Max lines, this proposal is the only one so far where expansion to a MLB sized stadium is possible. By building a new minor league baseball stadium that isn't expandable, Portland is sealing its fate as a city without a Major League Baseball team for the next 5, 10 or even 20 years.

The advantages to the OMSI site are:
*Directly on new Milwaukie Max Line and Eastside Streetcar
*Enough room to expand stadium if Portland ever lands MLB
*Amazing waterfront location
*Increased activity which could benefit OMSI
*Views of the city, Mt. Hood and the West Hills
*Avoids the issues with demolition of the Memorial Coliseum
*1 Block from Highway 99

Help The Effort!
This plan currently has not received any media attention, and we don't even know that Sam Adams or Randy Leonard have even heard about it. If you think this is a good plan, email the people that need to know:

Email the decision makers
Sam Adams
Randy Leonard

Dan Saltzman
Nick Fish
Amanda Fritz
Chris Metz (Administrative Contact for BetterBeaversBallPark.com)

Get some publicity
Email these influential people about this site and the plan for baseball at OMSI. Get people talking:
Letters to the Editor, The Oregonian
Portland Mercury
Willamette Week
KATU
KOIN
KGW
KPTV

Read More!

Brian Libby at PortlandArchitecture.com wrote a great post about this idea. Read about it here

The Burnside Blog at Portland Spaces Magazine did an article about alternate stadium sites, in which the OMSI site is included. Read about it here.


The Portland Mercury has mentioned this proposal in their article affectionately titled 'Fantasy Baseball Stadiums'. Read it here.

Who Benefits From Baseball At OMSI?

Soccer Fans This plan doesn't change the proposed upgrades to PGE park as a soccer-only venue, and may help to streamline the development process of both stadiums if issues related to the demolition of the Memorial Coliseum can be avoided.

Baseball Fans Baseball fans get a baseball park at a spectacular site, on the banks of the Willamette. Unlike other proposals, this site would allow for the stadium to be expanded to MLB standards in the future.

Architects/Preservationists Memorial Coliseum is saved from the wrecking ball, preserving an important piece of Portland's history and architectural heritage.

OMSI While deals will need to be negotiated with OMSI to acquire the land, it would be difficult to understand how thousands of parents and children next to Portland's premiere science museum would be a bad thing for OMSI.

The Rose Quarter/Blazers The Rose Quarter could be open to additional development without the baseball stadium taking up a large swath of land.

Portlanders The people of Portland will benefit by making the most of our investment dollar. A stadium that can be upgraded in the future, adding another attraction to the OMSI area, and preserving a Portland architectural icon.



Site Plan (MLB stadium)
Site plan in the event that Portland lands a MLB team. Initially site will house a AAA stadium that could be expanded to MLB standards.



Site Issues Diagram Displays the items that will need to be addressed to make the OMSI site work for MLB baseball. Stadium drawing was taken from previous studies into Portland baseball by the Oregon stadium campaign.



Discussions

This concept has been discussed on several websites:
Skyscraperpage.com - Original Discussion that started this idea
Discussion at PortlandArchitecture.com
Portland Mercury
Oregon Stadium Campaign Forums
SoccerCityUSA Message Board




Could OMSI have a use for the Memorial Coliseum?

Because this plan would use OMSI's land, could OMSI have a use for expanding to the Memorial Coliseum as a sort of land swap? OMSI gets additional land, Memorial Coliseum is saved (and potentially used for a new and interesting purpose), and Portland gets a new baseball stadium?