Proponents of the MARC today submitted a letter to the Portland City Council requesting a delay in the Rose Quarter Development Process to address overriding issues related to the existing agreement between the City and the Portland Arena Management (Portland Trail Blazers) for operation of Memorial Coliseum. The letter states in part:

“Specifically, we ask that the Council delay any decision on proceeding with an RFP process (and expenditure of additional public money on the process) until such time as it is determined whether or not the operating rights to the Coliseum can be re-negotiated between the City and PAM in the event the City Council decides on a plan other than that proposed by the Blazers.”

The full text of the letter is here:  MARC Letter to City Council Final 03.05.10 (2 pages)

]]> http://www.marcpdx.org/marc-proponents-request-delay-in-rose-quarter-process/feed/ 0 http://www.marcpdx.org/portland-sentinel-takes-on-key-issue-in-coliseum-decision/ http://www.marcpdx.org/portland-sentinel-takes-on-key-issue-in-coliseum-decision/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:30:57 +0000 admin http://www.marcpdx.org/?p=554 3/3/10 – The Portland Sentinel takes on the issue of how the M.C. Operating Agreement impacts proposals for the Coliseum:

“Although Mayor Sam Adams has insisted in public meetings that the arrangement will be revisited no matter which proposal moves forward, not everyone thinks the issue is being taken seriously enough. Douglas Obletz, principal with the firm Sheils Obletz Johnsen, which proposed the Memorial Athletic & Recreation Center (MARC), says the city has not provided his company any concrete promises. “That can keeps getting kicked down the road,” he said.”

“J. Isaac, senior vice president of business affairs for the Blazers, says so far the city has not contacted his office about any potential renegotiation of the agreement in the future. “[The operating agreement] is something very crucial to our business in the Rose Quarter,” said Isaac. “That portion is not something we’d be interested in modifying.”

More at:  http://bit.ly/aYvCGe

“The project involves the revitalization and conversion of part of Maple Leaf Gardens to a new, multi-functional athletic and recreational centre. The new centre will be located on the upper floors of Maple Leaf Gardens, covering a space of nearly 150,000 square feet, and will supplement the university’s current 20-year-old facility. Plans for the facility include a hockey rink, basketball and volleyball courts, and other recreational and academic spaces. The new facility is for Ryerson students but will also be accessible to the community.”

Maple Leaf Gardens is the former home of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.  More information at: http://bit.ly/ayaMoY

“. . .it’s interesting that the advisory committee decided to send on both Jumptown and the MARC, which is pitching itself as the opposite of the Blazers’ plan.”  –2/24/10 – Portland Mercury – http://bit.ly/b5RvIr

“Developer Doug Obletz said his plan for the MARC, a 200,000-square-foot community recreation facility with a 6,500-seat arena, will attract 1.2 million new users to the coliseum. He plans to finance his project through a general bond obligation measure, urban renewal funds and New Market and energy tax credits, as well as private fundraising.”  –2/24/10 – Daily Journal of Commerce – http://bit.ly/cfYD3D

“Ours is the only plan that significantly increase uses,” Obletz said. The MARC project would attract 1.3 million users annually — a figure more than double the estimates of other proposers.  –2/24/10 – Architectural Daily http://bit.ly/9tKKdc

“.  . . amid the concept selling, handshakes, cookie munching and tea drinking, the dominant belief among architects, designers and others Tuesday was that there are two horses in this derby: the concepts proposed by the Portland Trail Blazers organization and those proposed by developer Doug Obletz.”

“Obletz and others made a valid point previously, namely that the Blazers have the lead before the gate opens. It’s a point the mayor’s office concedes, based strictly on a past legal agreement.  Indeed, if the best idea conflicts with the interests of the city and the Blazers, then let’s hope renegotiating that agreement is as easy as (Mayor’s Office rep) Ruiz says.”

–D.K. Row, Oregonian, 2/1/10 - http://bit.ly/90E5Fe

On the Blazers plan to relocate the veterans memorial to a new site:  ”But the most prominent part of their plan — to set up a memorial at a new nearby park along the river — may not fly with veterans who don’t want to move off-site. Like Harley Wedel, a Portland veteran who served in the Korean War: “Their proposition eliminates the veterans from any kind of interest in the coliseum itself,” he said. ”All they’re trying to do is move us away from it, so as far as we’re concerned, that’s not satisfactory.”

–1/28/10 Oregonian - http://bit.ly/bYIp9D

“This is this generation’s Pioneer Square moment,” said Obletz, referring to the city’s decision in the early 1980s to convert a parking lot downtown into Portland’s most popular open space, Pioneer Courthouse Square. “This is our chance to turn the coliseum into the people’s playground.”

–1/28/10 – Architectural Daily - http://bit.ly/aEGPcE

“Another favorite is the Memorial Athletic Recreation Complex, or MARC, a proposal from development firm Shiels Obletz Johnsen. It would turn the Memorial Coliseum into a multiuse athletics center with training facilities and demountable playing surfaces.”

–1/27/10 – Daily Journal of Commerce - http://bit.ly/dapDAk

“Doug Obletz’s rousing pitch for  MARC declared this as a crucial time for public input over the future of public space, “Memorial Coliseum is this generation’s Pioneer Square moment!”"

–1/26/10 – Blogtown Portland - http://bit.ly/cJcraz

“(The) video introducing MARC to the world begins with the words “Imagine… Jump” appearing in white on a black screen. The words quickly fade into “Imagine Jack and Jill Jumping” but the satire is clear—Obletz is setting up his idea as a clear alternative to the Blazers’ Imagine JumpTown.”

“Blazers’ VP J. Isaac confirms that the Blazers’ might drop the plan to revamp the Rose Quarter if the option chosen for Memorial Coliseum is at odds with their vision. . . MARC wouldn’t work with their plan for Jumptown, he specifies.”

–1/26/10 – Blogtown Portland - http://bit.ly/bjDW9j

–1/19/10 – Portland Architecture Blog supports JumpTown plans: http://bit.ly/55Kud8

–1/15/10 – An Oregonian Guest Columnist weighs in on the Rose Quarter:  http://bit.ly/5p47ZW

“While Cordish may be able to do better for the Blazers, we just don’t see the benefit of a publicly subsidized party district in the Rose Quarter. For one thing, a lot of rowdy, drinking post-teenagers won’t help sell adjoining housing or office space. Instead, the City would be much better served by turning the Coliseum into the Memorial Athletic and Recreation Center. The Winterhawks would stay and lots of community based sporting events–PSU basketball, high school championships– would take place there. In addition, there would be a focus on participant recreation with two swimming pools, a field house for indoor soccer and lacrosse, ice skating and a velodrome. It would actually draw new residents, not repel them. If we’re interested in keeping families in Portland, we’d be better served by the MARC and not an arena-plus-party district.”

–1/15/10 – “KINK Considers” JumpTown and the MARC:  http://bit.ly/4TBRBW

–1/14/10 – Architectural Daily - http://bit.ly/6USdlL

–1/14/10 – Portland Architecture Blog:  http://bit.ly/7USP0t

–1/14/10 – bikeportland.org. blog: http://bit.ly/7N5lf2

–1/14/10 – Ryan Frank’s Top 5 in the Oregonian - http://bit.ly/8enc4l

–1/13/10 – Portland Mercury:  http://bit.ly/7EKy1i

–1/13/10 – Oregonian Letter to the Editor:  Letter to editor 1.13.10

1190KEX’s Paul Linnman interview of Doug Obletz can be heard by clicking the link below:

–1/11/10 -Interview with Paul Linnman on 1190KEX Radio: http://bit.ly/8MoljF

“Emblematic of what we can and should expect is the reworked “MARC” proposal from Shiels Obletz Johnsen Inc. of Portland. The firm’s proposal incorporates public athletic and recreation facilities in a manner that honors the architecture of Memorial Coliseum while significantly increasing the use of the facility. It also includes a 6,500-seat venue for the Winterhawks and other users while filling a void among venues currently present in our community. It enhances the memorial and restores the original garden setting that greeted visitors to the coliseum in previous years. And it incorporates a hard-nosed business plan that pays for operations and enables the facility to be accessible to the youth of Portland at free or very low cost.”

“This proposal is public in nature, responsible to the public and consistent with the history and community aspirations for the coliseum. It adds to what Portland is trying to become in the spirit of Pioneer Courthouse Square and Tom McCall Waterfront Park. It is authentic and avoids the failed cliches of other places and other times.”

–1/11/10 – PSU’s Ethan Seltzer in Oregonian Op-Ed:  http://bit.ly/4TXVqt

“. . .a couple of the ideas have some community support. The Memorial Athletic and Recreation Center made some waves a year ago when developer Doug Obletz first put forward the idea for a public athletic center in the space.”

–1/11/10 – Portland Mercury coverage at:  http://bit.ly/4tQfLP

“One [proposal], supported by developer Douglas Obletz, has persisted through the years as other redevelopment ideas have gained and lost support. The Obletz plan would turn the coliseum into the Memorial Athletic & Recreation Center, which would add recreation, training and track facilities, while keeping use of the existing ice rink.”

–1/11/10 – DJC says “Two proposals stand out for Memorial Coliseum”:  http://bit.ly/8QVRny

“Obletz is again pushing a community sports center concept for the Memorial Coliseum. He first floated the proposal in 2004 when the city bid for funding from the estate of Joan Kroc, heir to the McDonald’s fast-food fortune. Obletz is back with a proposal for the Memorial Athletic & Recreation Center submitted with Portland’s TVA Architects. The highlights: Rebuild the Memorial Coliseum with a new, 6,500-seat arena, more than 200,000 square feet of recreation space and a 152-meter velodrome. Obletz estimates the cost at $100 million to $140 million.”

–1/11/10 – Ryan Frank’s Front Porch “Top 5″:  http://bit.ly/69Lms2

“Obletz’s Memorial Athletic & Recreation Center would hold a new 6,500-seat arena to host hockey as well as high school championship games. There would be 225,000 square feet of top gym space. It would cost between $100 million and $125 million, and use revenue from the arena to pay operating costs for the recreation center.  ”Making money is not our objective,” he said. “We view the public assets in the Rose Quarter, including the coliseum, to be for the good of the public.”"

–1/8/10 – Oregonian: http://bit.ly/8hnGKO

More here:  http://bit.ly/9OU9nE

More information at http://bit.ly/ctYYGu

Live video feed at http://bit.ly/csUkVR

–Willamette Week, 2/17/10 – http://bit.ly/c6F5xT