A new use for Jeld-Wen Field
The Portland Timbers are scheduled to play at home only five times in the next three months. And with minor league baseball kicked out of the city stadium, the place is empty most of the time.
Meanwhile, Portland's homeless population continues to grow and make a mess on inner city streets. Why not solve both problems by putting the stadium to use, on its many off days and nights, as a homeless shelter? It's got kitchens, showers, rest rooms -- makes a lot of sense. The taxpayers have tens of millions of dollars invested in the place; this would be a nice return on their investment. Let's get Nick Fish on this idea right away.
| Posted at 11:47 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (13)
How about an initiative petition to bill Paulson for every day the thing sits empty? At, say, the burn rate of public dollars? Anybody calculated that number yet? Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by dyspeptic | August 6, 2011 12:15 PM
Yeah Jen-Weld was never empty when the Beavers played there...
https://bojack.org/2009/06/yet_another_big_night_for_base.html
Posted by John Czerwinski | August 6, 2011 12:36 PM
Great idea. They got special credit for taking care of the resident feral cats, why not care of the homeless in for more Green credit.
Posted by John F. BRADACH, SR. | August 6, 2011 1:18 PM
When will it be called Onex Field after its new owners?
Posted by dman | August 6, 2011 1:27 PM
Great idea, Jack. Lets get SamRandNursieFishy right on this... maybe a Tweet campaign would convince them
Posted by LucsAdvo | August 6, 2011 1:44 PM
Glad to see you thought as much of the idea as I.
Posted by Max | August 6, 2011 1:56 PM
The Convention Center, Memorial Coliseum and the Expo Center can also be utilized in same or similar fashion.
Unlike Multnomah Stadium/Civic Stadium, they are at least fully enclosed and heated. But on a day like today, it might be nice to get outside and set up a tent on the astro-turf.
Posted by Erik H. | August 6, 2011 9:40 PM
Now where do ya spose them Onex folks got all that cash?
Posted by Abe | August 6, 2011 11:13 PM
Does the Wapato Jail pay a minimum monthly fee for utilities?
Posted by dhughes609 | August 7, 2011 12:05 AM
Joking aside, I think you've hit upon the true folly of the soccer-only stadium. Even though the Beavers only put between 1,000 and 3,000 people in the stadium for most games, the stadium was still open for business. People worked at the gates and concession stands on those days, pubs and shops around the stadium got some customers who came into downtown for the games. Now there are 4 or 5 games a month instead of 15 to 20, if you had both baseball and soccer. Instead of creating jobs, City Hall took jobs and business away.
According to the Timbers own website, average attendance has been 10,334. The Beavers average attendance was 5,297 in 2009. Now we all know those official attendance numbers include group tix, promo tix, and a lot of other ticket count that don't actually show, but that's not the point. Do the math and over the course of the season, attendance is down with soccer and way down from having both teams play in a multi-use venue.
Posted by Ted | August 7, 2011 9:41 AM
Anything that sensible and logical just can't happen!
I will never understand why the world is such a freaking mess when there are so many obvious and simple solutions right in front of our eyes!
Posted by Al M | August 7, 2011 3:10 PM
Timbers average attendance has been 10,334? That can't be right. Every game has sold out at 18,000+. Perhaps that's a figure from last year.
Posted by RJBob | August 7, 2011 9:44 PM
I get it. Kind of like the Louisiana Superdome during Katrina. Only I doubt if the homeless can afford $7 beers. Perhaps the City could subsidize.
Posted by ray | August 8, 2011 8:16 AM