Hawks want MC makeover

Team says smaller, upgraded coliseum would ‘pencil out’

By steve brandon

The Portland Tribune, Oct 29, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

PIPER

A couple of years from now, maybe this is the scene …

Another Western Hockey League season is about to start. The Portland Winterhawks are shooting for an opening-night sellout of 7,000 at their remodeled Memorial Coliseum. Fans entering the arena can see past Winterhawk highlights on the large replay screens that are part of a new scoreboard. Some fans are filing into the new club areas and viewing lounges. The restrooms are bright, clean and modern. And it no longer takes half a period to get a hot dog at a concession stand.

A dream? At the moment, yes. But the Winterhawks are trying to convince politicians and planners that it can, and should, happen.

“We think we could fill the coliseum on a regular basis and that it would be a great hockey venue for our level, and a great size for concerts and other things coming through,” says Doug Piper, team president.

A task force formed in July by Mayor Sam Adams is the latest group to consider what to do with the Rose Quarter and the coliseum, the half-century-old, multipurpose facility that recently joined the National Register of Historic Places.

The Trail Blazers have tried to get support for a large entertainment district at the Rose Quarter. The Winterhawks, who play most of their games at the coliseum and some at the Rose Garden, say that could benefit them, and that they’d be good for a renovated coliseum, too.

“We think the best use for the building is to remodel it so it can be used by us as a permanent home,” Piper says. “We would provide a revenue stream, and we think there are some options for adding community recreational elements that would help make it a 24-7 destination.”

The Winterhawks are talking with Doug Obletz, a developer who has recommended turning Memorial Coliseum into a recreational center.

Piper says the coliseum also “could be a good place for retail or other types of leasable space – restaurants and that sort of thing – to take advantage of the location and views. The potential is great.”

A winning idea

Capacity of 7,000 –trimmed from the current 10,400 for hockey –would be ideal, Piper says. The Winterhawks would continue to have their offices in the building, and they would be able to practice there regularly, instead of having to travel to rinks in the suburbs.

The Hawks, Piper says, “haven’t heard of any new non-spectator facility use for the coliseum that pencils out going forward, so we think we probably have a winning idea. It’s more about who’s going to run it and how it’s going to work.”

Piper says the Winterhawks would not necessarily have to manage the coliseum, which has been run for years by the Blazers.

“We’d love to operate the building,” he says. “It’s important for us to maximize our opportunity to have a share of the revenue streams. But the Blazers have something to say about that. We want to get along well with them, for sure.”

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