What's Next at Multnomah Stadium?

 

Multnomah field, a sports venue dating to 1893, morphed into Multnomah Stadium in 1926 when Portland architects Morris White and A.E. Doyle completed the J-shaped sports venue with covered seating.

 Bought from the Multnomah Athletic Club by the City of Portland in 1966 (for what now seems like a paltry $2.1 million) and renamed Portland Civic Stadium, the building underwent major renovations in 1982, 2011 and 2019.  Yet the original basic plan is still plainly visible with its arcade of simple arches running along SW Morrison Street and 20th Avenue.

 The most dramatic change was the most recent, when a notable Portland architectural firm, Allied Works, designed a four tiered grandstand with an arched roof along what originally had been the “open” leg of the stadium along SW 18th Avenue. 

A glimpse of the new east-side tiers

Brad Cloepfil, the senior partner of Allied Works, is a soccer fan of many years who clearly appreciates the historic aspects of the old ballpark.  Though previously used for football, baseball, dog racing and occasional concerts, the venue is now used almost exclusively by Portland’s two professional soccer teams. 

Part of the inspiration for the new east stands came from an old prospective drawing that shows elements of the original stadium that were never built, including second decks on the east and west grandstands.  Therein lie some clues for the future. 

 An interesting consequence of the various renovations is that stadium capacity has been reduced from what once hit 33,000 down to 25,000.  Which begs the question: To keep pace with bigger Major League Soccer venues, what’s next for what is now called Providence Park?

 This is a difficult subject for Portland.  Since the defeat of the proposed Delta Dome in 1964, talk of a new stadium has focused occasionally on a few sites in the region, but nothing serious has ever materialized.  So the brain trust here at Building on History would like to offer a suggestion.

 The future Providence Park is…Providence Park.  Though the Northwest Portland and Goose Hollow  neighborhoods would go ballistic at the thought of more  traffic occurring at an enlarged venue, the stadium has good light rail access.  Those who care about history will enjoy recalling the Portland Beavers, the Portland Mavericks and the many football games played at the stadium by Oregon and Oregon State (and even Portland State) until on-campus venues grew larger in Eugene and Corvallis.    

Where the new east grandstand intersects with the old

Taking a look at Allied Works’ eastern grandstand holds the answer for expanding Providence Park:  Use the same strategy on the stadium’s west side, where the seating deck already is deeper.  One could imagine some basic engineering that would allow the new tiers to be cantilevered over the sidewalk on 20th Avenue and perhaps even high over part of that little-travelled street. 

 Creative minds at Allied Works would also need to figure out how to squeeze in modern restrooms and concessions spaces, which have expanded greatly in new stadia elsewhere.   

Our basic expansion concept would retain Doyle’s historic arcades that curve along Morrison and straighten along 20th, retaining the historic feel of the simple but elegant concrete walls.  It is not for simple minds like ours to guess what the ultimate capacity would be, but one can guess it would add several thousand seats.

We sent a message to the Timbers communications staff asking if the team had given any thought as to what happens next.  So far…no answer.  Building on History is pleased to take credit for this exciting proposal. As newsies liked to say in the told days, "You read it here first." 

-----Fred Leeson

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