FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Oregon
January 8, 2010
PROPOSAL FOR MEMORIAL ATHLETIC AND RECREATION CENTER
SUBMITTED TO CITY OF PORTLAND
A new proposal to convert Portland’s Memorial Coliseum to the Memorial Athletic & Recreation Center (MARC) was submitted today to the City of Portland’s Rose Quarter Development process. Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Inc. of Portland is the proposal sponsor.
The MARC will house the New Memorial Coliseum, an entirely new, 6,500 seat arena, along with more than 200,000 square feet of top quality community recreation, athletic training, and competition facilities in what will be North America’s largest and most comprehensive center for sports events, athletics and training.
MARC will be the new, permanent home for the Portland Winterhawks hockey club, PSU men’s and women’s basketball and Oregon high school championships in wrestling, dance and drill, cheerleading, swimming, basketball and other sports.
A key goal of the project will be to utilize the existing elements of the veteran’s memorial to develop an enhanced, expanded and accessible memorial facility that is both highly visible and respectful of those that sacrificed themselves for our community and country. A new memorial would be designed in cooperation with veterans and constructed in the plaza area at the east entrance to the MARC.
MARC will have a uniquely Portland spin by including facilities supporting Portland’s emerging bicycle culture, including an international-quality, demountable 152 meter velodrome. Similarly, the building will include a demountable indoor track capable of hosting regional and national track and field competitions similar to the long-standing Oregon Indoor.
By attracting over 1.5 million annual visitors to the Rose Quarter, the MARC will activate the district and bring new revenue to hotels, restaurants and retailers in the Lloyd District and Downtown while inspiring even greater use of the Rose Quarter’s excellent transit infrastructure. And more than any other option currently on the table, MARC will generate the day-long and year-round activity necessary to encourage new sports-related uses and activities in the Rose Quarter, and new commercial and residential adjacent to the Rose Quarter.
Douglas Obletz, President of Shiels Obletz Johnsen of Portland, the sponsor of the proposal said: “This is a defining moment for the future of the Rose Quarter, Memorial Coliseum and our city. Now is the time for the citizens of Portland to step up in support of a community project that symbolizes what Portland is about. The MARC represents responsible use of public assets, promotes health and wellness, serves kids and families, preserves our architectural heritage, commemorates our veterans and enhances tourism and economic development.”
Details of the MARC proposal are available at http://www.marcpdx.org.
The next step will be for the Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) to review the proposal along with the other proposals submitted to date. A public meeting is scheduled for January 26th to review the various proposals submitted. Ultimately, it will be up to the Portland City Council to decide which proposal or proposals move forward for additional development and public review.
The proposal for the MARC was prepared by Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Inc. of Portland as the project sponsor and project manager, TVA Architects of Portland, Peter Meijer Architects of Portland and Brailsford & Dunlavey of Washington, D.C. as facility planners and project economics consultants.
For further information contact:
Memorial Athletic & Recreation Center
c/o Douglas L. Obletz, President
Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Inc.
(503) 242-0084