As consultants for a city-funded study prepare to examine the future of Portland’s deteriorating Veterans Memorial Coliseum, area architects and preservationists are pushing for its revival.

“It’s one of the top mid-century modern buildings on the West Coast,” Portland architect Stuart Emmons said. “I think when people think of it in those terms, more people will see how incredibly cool this building is.”

Emmons, co-chairman of preservation advocacy group Friends of Memorial Coliseum, is closely following the latest discussions on what’s next for the city-owned building that needs significant repairs and maintenance. City officials recently hired three private consultants, including Portland-based Boora Architects, to study redevelopment possibilities for the 54-year-old building. Two include a remodel or demolition to make room for future development in the Rose Quarter district.

Veterans Memorial Coliseum was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, and Emmons is among Portland architects and preservationists advocating for its restoration and continued use. But as an events venue, the arena frequently operates in the red; also, extensive work would be required to bring it up to current fire safety and accessibility codes, said Susan Gibson-Hartnett, who oversees the city’s spectator facilities for the Office of Management & Finance.

“It’s suffering from both deferred maintenance and upgrades,” she said. “Over the last 10 years, the coliseum has had two years where it did not lose money.”

Continued operation of the coliseum though a city contract with private company Portland Arena Management is unsustainable, Gibson-Hartnett said, and that is partly why talk of the building’s future has re-emerged. Portland Mayor Charlie Hales wants to stop spending millions of dollars on the status quo and find new viable ideas for the building, said Sara Hottman, a spokeswoman for Hales.

The Veterans Memorial Coliseum Options Study consultant team will hold a kickoff meeting this week, and the firms are scheduled to share their findings with the Portland City Council in late March 2015. The aim of the $307,687 study is to help city commissioners decide what to do with the coliseum. Findings will analyze the costs, scope of work and feasibility of four potential scenarios:

• Renovating the building to address maintenance issues and meet modern event venue standards, including upgrading the heating and ventilation system, replacing seats and replacing the scoreboard;

• Continuing the building’s current use as a community events venue and home of the Portland Winterhawks hockey team;

• Closing the building temporarily or permanently; or

• Demolishing the structure and redeveloping the site.

Emmons said he’s disheartened that demolition is one of the options in the study.

“I think it’s beyond stupid,” he said.

He likened the idea to tearing down the Space Needle in Seattle, the Rockefeller Center in New York or the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco.

“That’s sort of the level we’re talking about here,” he said. “I don’t think people understand how great of a building it is.”

Portland architect Peter Meijer, who pushed for the coliseum to be listed on the national register, said he also was stunned that city officials would still consider demolishing it.

“The building does need investment in funds,” he said. “It’s an absolutely fabulous building. It absolutely has continual life.”

Meijer said the arena – designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with a seating bowl enclosed in a glass box – should be preserved.

“It’s a significant structure for its period, both for what it did for the city and its sports teams, but also as an engineering feat,” he said.

With a bit of work, Veterans Memorial Coliseum could become a top-rate venue serving the city in conjunction with the Moda Center and the Oregon Convention Center, Emmons said. More people would appreciate the building’s minimalistic architecture and stunning view of downtown if it were lit properly and the curtains were opened, he said.

“If you fix it up, everybody is going to want to have parties there,” he said. “The potential is there. It’s very hard to see. It’s not going to take much.”

Peggy Moretti, executive director of preservation advocacy nonprofit Restore Oregon, said she would prefer to see Veterans Memorial Coliseum continue as an events venue, but would be open to adaptive reuse if original architectural elements were preserved and restored.

“We are smart enough and creative enough to figure this out,” she said.

Part of the City Council’s decision on the future of Veterans Memorial Coliseum will involve looking beyond the financial implications and considering the building’s use as a venue for slightly more than 100 events a year, mostly hosted by schools, community organizations and nonprofits, Gibson-Hartnett said.

“That’s one of the goals that the city has for the Veterans Memorial Coliseum is to be a community asset,” she said. “The bottom line is: What’s the willingness to subsidize for public purposes?”

Veterans Memorial Coliseum is worth revitalizing, Moretti said.

“If (the city) got this up to snuff, it would support itself,” she said. “This is an investment to get the next fifty years out of it.”

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For years, prospects for developing around Veterans Memorial Coliseum were dubious.

“Frankly, the big question mark that has been sitting on the future of the Memorial Coliseum, and the number one reason why we couldn’t get developers to develop the property, was: How do you decide … what you’re going to build if the VMC isn’t going to be there?” said Scott Andrews, chairman of the Portland Development Commission and president of Melvin Mark Properties.

Four years ago, the 72-year-old coliseum was in danger of being demolished; however, in 2009 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places and a multiyear redevelopment effort was set in motion. Now, the city of Portland has a $31.5 million plan for the coliseum and the surrounding Rose Quarter.

During a press conference at the coliseum last week, Andrews and Mayor Sam Adams presented details of the public/private partnership. Andrews said the deal required complex negotiations that involved 13 legal agreements.

The plan calls for the city and the PDC to pitch in $21.5 million and the Winterhawks to contribute $10 million.

Also, Portland Arena Management’s contract for managing the coliseum with no fee will be extended to 2024.

In August, a report from PDC Executive Director Patrick Quinton to the board of commissioners said that PAM’s contract was slated to expire in 2013 and that the company had agreed to extend it by only one five-year period. If PAM had failed to extend its contract beyond 2018, the city and the PDC from that point would have had to pick up the tab for operations.

Chris Oxley, the general manager for PAM, said the project presents an opportunity to preserve a historic, community asset as well as an economic source.

“The city was obviously looking to have some certainty as to the management of the building, and we saw an opportunity through this project to potentially have a better business investment within the VMC,” Oxley said. “So we made a decision as part of negotiations to offer an option for us to continue management beyond what the initial extension was.”

Oxley is hoping that redevelopment will attract new clients to the coliseum, but he said his first priority was ensuring that existing clients like the Winterhawks, the Oregon School Activities Association, Portland Public Schools and the Rose City Rollers also are able to increase profitability. He said the arena draws more than 400,000 people annually.

“Even the users that use the exhibit hall for their haunted house in the fall are drawing tens of thousands of people to their events,” Oxley said. “So the coliseum gets a significant amount of use.”

Doug Piper, president of the Winterhawks, said planned upgrades – including a new scoreboard, new seats, new concessions and others  – would make the building a viable sports and entertainment venue for decades to come. He said he is looking forward to approval by Portland City Council and final approval from the Winterhawks’ owner at the end of the month.

Another element of the redevelopment plan is an option for the PDC to develop nearby parcels in the Rose Quarter. Andrews said ownership and development rights of those properties could potentially be transferred to the PDC.

Opportunities exist for four parcels – including the Benton block, which is a surface parking lot northwest of the coliseum. Andrews said the structured parking garages east of that block were built to accommodate future retail and housing development around their bases and on top.

Those properties are owned by the Office of Management and Finance.

“… the second step is just getting that property into our hands,” Andrews said. “We’re in the business of trying to stimulate the economy and get projects going, and OMF isn’t. The department that owns it is in the business of running city finances.”

Andrews said that before the PDC moves forward, it needs to conduct due diligence reports for each property to gauge development opportunities and associated costs. The agency is hoping that development in the Rose Quarter will increase the city’s real property tax base and add to general fund revenues.

The city and the PDC worked with representatives of a veterans focus group and the Rose Quarter Strategic Advisory Committee to create the plan. Other partners include the Office of Management and Budget, the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability.

City Council will review plan-related ordinances on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. For more information on those ordinances, visit: .

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The Portland Historic Landmarks Commission on Monday heard renovation plans for Veterans Memorial Coliseum, and after three hours of presentations, questions and public testimony, the biggest objection wasn’t about what the plan included, but rather what it didn’t.

“I’m concerned that you have a defective notice because it does not point out the interior renovation which will be happening,” said Peter Finley Fry, a land-use planning consultant, in a public testimony during the meeting. “The public is misinformed and the notice is fatally flawed.”

Veterans Memorial Coliseum time line

1960 – Construction wraps up on the building heralded as the “glass house.” The design by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill is International style.

1962 – Fountain Court is added.

1966 – Convention Hall is added.

1967 – Pine Court is added.

1969 – Assembly Hall is added.

1993 – As construction of the Rose Garden begins, Convention Hall and Assembly Hall are demolished. The entry plaza is redesigned. The building receives a partial seismic upgrade.

2009 – The city considers demolishing the coliseum to accommodate a soccer stadium and a minor league baseball stadium. Mayor Sam Adams convenes a 32-member Stakeholder Advisory Committee to steer Rose Quarter development and identify ideas for reuse of the coliseum. The building is added to the National Register of Historic Places.

2010 – The city issues a request for proposals for reuse concepts for the building.

2011 – Portland City Council votes to rename the building the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in recognition of the 50th anniversary of the building’s dedication. Renovation plans stall as city groups weigh financing options for the project. City passes a resolution declaring support for $31 million in upgrades to the building.

2012 – Construction is scheduled to begin in summer.

2013 – Construction is slated to finish by fall.

Fry was responding to a presentation by Robert Mawson, vice president of , which outlined a series of exterior renovations to the coliseum. Those renovations detailed 15 specific work items; some were: replacing the building’s main roof with a 4-inch insulated membrane system, stripping and restoring the canopy’s glu-lam beams to their original wooden finish, cutting windows into the concrete walls of the Link building, and removing Pine Court’s tree garden and brick plaza.

“When this process began there were elaborate discussions about retail openings, changing out the laminated plywood (and) redesigning the entry plaza, and as the process has slowed, there has been an increasing appreciation for the simplicity of the resource and really we’re looking at retaining 95 to 98 percent of the property,” Mawson said of the exterior renovations.

Peter Meijer, principal of , which was responsible for submitting the coliseum for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, also commented on Mawson’s presentation.

Meijer did not object to Mawson’s designs but rather that the hearing did not include any review of interior renovations. He argued that failing to do so violated Portland’s comprehensive plan, National Register of Historic Places criteria, zoning codes and land-use precedents.

official Anne Mangan said projected interior renovations include new seats, a new scoreboard, new audio/visual systems, new mechanical and plumbing systems, restroom and locker room upgrades, new Portland Winterhawks offices and a new bar on the concourse level.

Mangan added that the interior is not listed as part of the historic registration and as such is not subject to review by the historic landmarks commission; meeting attendees said it should be.

“The design was predicated on it being a form within a form, and there is no separating the two forms from each other,” said Kristen Minor of Peter Meijer Architect, in a separate testimony describing the building’s 360-degree glass curtain wall that makes the interior visible from outside. “That’s why we would say if the code has language supporting an interior review in some cases, this is exactly that case.”

The coliseum, designed by in 1960, was in danger of being demolished four years ago. It was added to the national register in 2009, and the city is now spearheading a $31 million restoration plan. PDC tax increment money will account for $17.1 million, the Winterhawks will supply $10 million, and historic tax credits will cover $3 million to $4 million.

Mangan said the earliest start date for construction would be this summer, with completion targeted for fall 2013 – before a new season for the Winterhawks.

“It’s a process,” Mawson said. “People have their perspective and I think the PDC through the process has attempted to be accommodating and responsive. And at the same time, with all these public processes, you have to bring it to an end and not everybody gets their way. You move forward with a decision making process and try to get to a solution that most people like and that’s sort of where we’re at.”

During the meeting, city staffers recommended minor changes to several of Heritage’s proposed external designs, and Mawson said he was amenable to those suggestions. But another major topic of debate was the removal of the trees and red brick plaza in Pine Court.

Mawson contended that the court, designed in 1967, did not fit the building’s overall design; he asked the commission to determine whether the court was in fact historic. Heritage is proposing changes to the Veterans Memorial Gardens, including Pine Court, in a separate application in order to maintain momentum for the larger project.

“I think the Pine Court comes across as what it is, which is an afterthought,” Mawson said.

He did not propose an alternative for the courtyard area, but he said knowing whether it can be replaced would open the door for design discussions.

During the meeting, several elderly veterans voiced concerns that they had not been adequately involved in the planning process.

“This entire area that we’re discussing – the entire building – is a memorial,” veteran Harley Wedel said. “The manner in which some of these things have been discussed (is) a little bit disturbing. For instance, the Pine Court: Let’s just go in there and rip everything out and then maybe we’ll come up with a plan?”

Wedel said he believed the Japanese maples in the court were significant to the Korean War, and that the subject deserved more discussion.

Kevin Brake, project manager for the PDC, said the agency has made numerous efforts to reach out to veterans and would make more. No one at the meeting said whether Pine Court held any historical or cultural significance, and commissioners expressed a desire to learn more before making a decision over its fate.

“My principal concern is we need to better understand the story with that court,” Commissioner Kirk Ranzetta said. “There needs to be more dialogue with the veterans and the PDC on this because there could be some cultural significance.”

Meijer requested that commissioners hold the public record open for an additional seven days, and city staffers set the closing date for Monday at 4 p.m. The commission is scheduled to reconvene in mid-May.

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On the heels of a group of engineers determining that Portland’s Rose Quarter will operate more efficiently if its buildings share a heating and cooling system, construction of the necessary infrastructure is likely to begin this year.

After studying the energy performance of the Rose Garden, the Oregon Convention Center and Veterans Memorial Coliseum, British Columbia-based concluded that a shared thermal energy system between the facilities would be technically feasible. Now, city and Portland Development Commission officials are investigating the project’s financial aspects, and construction is expected to be coordinated with the upcoming renovation of the coliseum.

District energy systems are not new for Portland; the six blocks in the Pearl District known as the Brewery Blocks are cooled by a chilled-water system atop Whole Foods Market. The large, district-wide chiller serves seven buildings much more efficiently than separate plants would.

But incorporating a district energy system into the Rose Quarter, which includes venues heavily used by the public, comes with challenges.

While the Brewery Blocks share only cooling, the Rose Quarter will include both cooling and heating. Also, adjacent property owners are expected to eventually be able to hook up to the system.

And unlike the Brewery Blocks redevelopment, planned by , management of Rose Quarter buildings has never been so coordinated: the coliseum is owned by the city, the Rose Garden by , and the convention center by Metro.

For now, plans call for installing a thermal energy system connected between the Rose Garden, an adjacent office building and Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The next phase would add a connection to the convention center, and a third phase would explore greater expansion possibilities throughout the Lloyd District.

“If there’s a big event at the Rose Garden one night, the system is built to accommodate that huge demand,” PDC Central City manager Lisa Abuaf said. “Balancing the load between different buildings can create great energy efficiencies.”

Under the preliminary plan, Corix would own the shared thermal energy system and be the utility provider, and the end users would pay for utility costs in the same way as they do now, according to Abuaf. The goal, she added, is for the city to not be on the hook for any of the project costs.

Construction at the coliseum could be challenging because the Portland Winterhawks‘ schedule leaves limited windows. The professional hockey team’s season runs from September through April, but some of the work will prevent the public from accessing the building.

While the project is mostly the work of the city and the PDC, it is also a “significant win” for the Lloyd eco-district, according to its director, Sarah Heinicke. The shared heating and cooling system will broaden and accelerate efforts to reduce carbon emissions and achieve energy efficiency goals, she said.

And the Portland Trail Blazers, who play home games at the Rose Garden, are celebrating their contributions to the city’s energy efficiency efforts today as part of the National Basketball Association’s “Green Week.”

But some sustainably-minded Portlanders would prefer to see the city focus more on homeowners and less on major franchises.

John Sorenson, whose nonprofit pushed for now-defunct district energy systems in the Sunnyside neighborhood and the North Pearl District, says the challenges in moving those projects forward helped him see the downsides of pursuing district-scale projects.

“There’s an incredibly diverse population in this city, and it seems to me that the Blazers are going to do just fine without any help,” Sorenson said. “Projects in the Lloyd District or the Pearl District may be individually good, but it seems to me that the assistance (in becoming more energy efficient) should go to those folks who are just trying to squeak by.”

After spending years promoting district energy systems, Sorenson is now starting a private company called Eneuf that will help people find ways to reduce energy consumption in their homes.

Nevertheless, the PDC last week issued another request for proposals to develop, finance, and operate district infrastructure in the north district of the South Waterfront Urban Renewal Area, which is also a pilot eco-district. If feasible, this project may be expanded further to include water and waste management. Proposals are due May 7.

In addition to helping the city meet its energy reduction goals, district energy systems will help Portland’s “green industry” continue to grow, Abuaf said.

“We’re trying to recruit new private-sector businesses and grow the knowledge base within existing firms,” she said. “We want the implementation of the district energy systems to be a replicable model that many other cities want to look to.”

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Redevelopment ideas for Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the last few years have ranged from a soundstage or an entertainment complex or an arts center. But now Portland City Council is expected to discuss a resolution that would declare city support for $30 million of upgrades for the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The latest plan for the city-owned building is the result of years of public input, according to officials involved in the development agreement.

Portland City Council on Thursday will consider an agreement between Portland Arena Management, the and the city for coliseum upgrades. Project details are not finalized yet because schematic design is still under way, but an agreement for funding would be a major step forward. The agreement could be finalized in January or February 2012, according to Portland Development Commission senior project manager Kevin Brake.

“It appears to be finally coming to fruition,” said Rose Quarter General Manager Chris Oxley, who represents Portland Arena Management and the Portland Trail Blazers. “It’s good in that the future of the coliseum has finally been determined.”

Two years ago, the city convened a 32-member advisory group to collect ideas about the desired future of the Rose Quarter, including the coliseum. By January 2010, more than 50 proposals were submitted to the city. Three finalists were chosen by the group in February 2010, but the city then shut down the RFP process because two would have cost more than $100 million.

The Memorial Athletic and Recreation Center and the Veterans Memorial Arts and Athletic Center proposals would have resulted in major changes to the building and expanded its use. Both projects were already partnered with contractors when they were proposed to the city.

The third proposal, developed by the Trail Blazers and the Winterhawks, suggested a more modest “enhanced spectator venue” with facility renovations.

It was “clear” that the Blazers/Winterhawks proposal was the only viable one, Brake said, so the city went forward with it after suspending the RFP process. One of the reasons for this decision was that the city did not have money to pay the other proposers to combine their ideas, Brake said.

The PDC engaged an urban design consultant to work with the advisory group on a vision for the Rose Quarter. That vision will take a coliseum-first approach to the district, with a holistic approach including work with ODOT to widen Interstate 5 through the district.

“Some of the other proposals that had come to light would have caused a situation in which we couldn’t hold the events (at the coliseum) that we hold there now,” including high school graduations and the Portland Rose Festival’s Grand Floral Parade, Oxley said. “I’m happy to see that they have the ability to use the building in its original intent.”

In August, the PDC received approval to spend urban renewal money on the coliseum, even though it’s a public building. The design team of and was awarded a design and engineering contract in September. They city is expected to spend $17 million of money to renovate the building. Other money for the project would possibly come from the Winterhawks and historic tax credits. Portland Arena Management is set to manage the construction project.

The planned building improvements include: replacement of the ice rink and all seats in the arena bowl to upgrade to ADA and NHL standards; restroom and concession renovations; replacement of the building’s roof; and safety, lighting and landscaping improvements. The Winterhawks’ offices and locker room also are planned to be remodeled. If more money is acquired, the project could be expanded.

“Right now we’re looking at what are the things that have to be done, coupled with the limited pool of dollars we need to work within,” PDC spokesman Shawn Uhlman said.

The team might later look at further enhancements to improve the fan experience, he said.

The PDC also is working on a feasibility study to examine the possibility of a Rose Quarter district energy system to serve buildings such as the coliseum and the Oregon Convention Center.

“There are many pieces that are on parallel tracks that we’re hoping can all be worked through in the next couple of months,” Uhlman said.

One piece is an intergovernmental agreement between the city and the PDC for funding and another is an application for historic tax credits. Also, PAM and the city are engaged in a joint private process to select a contractor; an announcement will be made soon, Brake said.

If the schedule is maintained, the project team expects to shut down the coliseum for construction in March 2012 and then reopen when the Winterhawks begin their next season in the fall.

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The Portland Development Commission issued a notice of intent to award an architectural design and engineering contract for the Veterans Memorial Coliseum renovation to a team led by Opsis Architecture and including AECOM Technology Corp.

The Opsis team was one of two that responded to a request for proposals issued by the PDC. The other team was led by Boora Architects and included Populous. Boora worked to develop the renovation project’s scope in a consulting contract with the PDC.

“Both of the submittals were very good,” PDC spokesman Shawn Uhlman said. He added that the firms were close in scoring, but the Opsis team’s presentation of some aspects – including community engagement and future building use – “really resonated with the committee.”

The evaluation committee for the contract included representatives from the PDC, the Portland Office of Management and Finance, Portland Arena Management, the Portland Winterhawks, the Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee, the Veterans Focus Group and the Minority Evaluator Program.

According to the request for proposals issued by the PDC, the architecture and engineering work is expected to wrap up in May 2012. Construction could begin as soon as January 2012. The renovation is slated to include energy-efficiency upgrades to bring the building up to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold standards, as well as upgrades to finishes, sprinklers, lights, seating, concessions and many other areas.

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Two firms submitted proposals in response to a Portland Development Commission request for proposals to design a renovation of Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.

Boora Architects and Populous, and Opsis Architecture with AECOM, submitted their proposals earlier this month, said PDC senior procurement specialist Daniel Spero.

The renovation of Memorial Coliseum is slated to include upgrades to concessions, seating, lighting, the building’s hockey rink and chiller, and energy-efficiency advances bringing the building up to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold standards. Construction is expected to start in January 2012 and end in December 2012.

An eight-person evaluation committee will select a team soon, Spero said.

“We’re in the process of figuring out calendars and logistics,” he said.

Boora Architects helped develop the scope of the renovation project in a consulting contract with the PDC.

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Portland City Council voted 4-1 Wednesday to allow $2 million in urban renewal funds to be spent on plans for renovating Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Council needed to approve the expenditure because urban renewal funds can not usually be spent on public buildings. Proposals to conduct architecture design and engineering for the building project are due today at 2 p.m. The renovation, according to the request for proposals issued by Portland Development Commission, will include replacement of the building’s boiler, heating pumps and piping, new lighting, upgraded finishings and upgrades to the kitchen and hockey rink.

The PDC is also looking for developers interested in designing, installing and operating a shared thermal energy system for the Rose Quarter, including the Memorial Coliseum. Responses to the request for qualifications for that project are due Aug. 29.

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The Portland Development Commission this week seeking an architecture and engineering team for a renovation of Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.

The renovation will include energy-efficiency upgrades that will bring the building to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold standards as well as upgrades to concessions, seating, lighting, signage, finishes and a long list of other improvements.

The renovation design will be consistent with a scope outlined in a consulting contract between PDC and Boora Architects.  PDC expects to award the first part of a two-phase contract in August or September. The awarding of the contract is contingent on Portland City Council approval of an amendment of the Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Area that would allow PDC to use tax-increment finance funds on the public building.

Construction could begin as soon as January 2012 and is expected to be completed in December of 2012, according to PDC spokeswoman Ann Mangan. The architecture and engineering contract will be funded by PDC, and construction will be funded through a number of sources: tax-increment financing; private capital, potentially from the Winterhawks hockey team; New Market Tax Credits; Historic Tax Credits; and Energy Trust of Oregon Incentives.

Proposals are due August 11, and PDC will be hosting a voluntary pre-proposal meeting at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum on July 27.

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Use of urban renewal money on Veterans Memorial Coliseum

The $20 million the city has set aside for Memorial Coliseum deferred maintenance and basic upgrades before the tax credit consideration will come from the Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal Area.

Urban renewal dollars aren’t usually used on publicly owned buildings because those buildings aren’t charged property taxes and improving them doesn’t directly increase the tax base. But if it can be shown that work on a public building will improve the surrounding area, an exception can be made.

The Portland Development Commission in May approved two amendments to the Oregon Convention Center Urban Renewal plan regarding Memorial Coliseum. One of those amendments changed language to allow the use of tax-increment financing on public buildings.

As stated in the amendment, “The (PDC’s) participation in the public building project will benefit the Oregon Convention Center (URA) by creating a more vibrant coliseum that is expected to catalyze future Rose Quarter development and grow the tax base.”

The on again, off again plans for Veterans Memorial Coliseum are off again – at least for now.

During a meeting last week, city commissioners decided to table a vote on whether to use more than $20 million in urban renewal money to pay for maintenance and upgrades for the coliseum. Instead, they ‘ll take the next five months to examine whether other sources of money could be used to expand the scope of the project.

Those possible pots of money, according to the Mayor’s Economic Development Policy Advisor Skip Newberry, include acquiring new market, historic and energy tax credits to accompany the urban renewal funds. They’re potential funds the team didn’t think would be accessible, but after further examination, could help double the amount of funds available for the project, he said.

The initial project included a laundry list of deferred maintenance projects as well as upgrades like a new HVAC system and improvements to the concourse.

The delay won’t change the initially targeted improvements and maintenance, according to Newberry. But it will probably result in a larger project that could include some new additions to the 1960-built coliseum, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“We want to get the building renovated and that hasn’t changed,” Newberry said. “But if we can identify additional funds, we will include some of the nice-to-haves.”

Newberry said the project team has created a list of possible improvements and additions, but has not yet prioritized list items.

“We want to have the funding nailed down first,” he said.

Some members of the stakeholder advisory committee overseeing the project believe taking the time for the larger project is the right thing to do.

“I’m not against a slow process to determine funding if it means that the VMC will see significant and useful improvements,” said Lillian Karabaic, a member of the Rose Quarter Development Project Stakeholder Advisory Committee since its formation in 2009. “I think if we’re going to upgrade the coliseum, we need to do it right. If that means extra time to nail down additional funding, so be it.”

Karabaic admits she liked the idea of turning the coliseum into another use besides a spectator venue. But if any improvements are made, she thinks it’s crucial they be related to seating upgrades and finding ways to create a flexible event space with the ability to change capacity for different events.

Others involved in the project, like Matthew Miller, an architectural designer that co-designed the Veterans Memorial Arts & Athletic Center concept that was shot down last year, doesn’t believe it should have taken this long to realize there were other sources of money besides urban renewal funding out there.

“I was telling the mayor over a year ago that tax credits, even an energy tax credit, would be available for the coliseum,” Miller said.

Newberry said the project team had heard that tax credits could be potentially used. But questions regarding their availability, and whether or not the various tax credit programs would be renewed by the federal government, had left tax credits out of the discussion until recently, he said.

“We are doing this to make it a more detailed, and hopefully, a better project,” Newberry said. “The council will look at it in November and we are anticipating a spring construction deadline for the project.”

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