Milwaukie bureaucrats want a train *and* a stadium
Portland's southeastern suburb is now talking about building a new $20 million (or $30 million, what the hey) minor league baseball park near the proposed Mystery Train from Portland. It's hard to believe that there will be two new baseball stadiums built in the metro area -- one in Milwaukie and the other in the 'Couv. And so it seems that a bit of a bidding war may be starting up.
Oh, and they're expecting the City of Portland to pay some of the freight!
The Milwaukie City Council will hear an update on the proposal Tuesday. City officials then plan to meet Aug. 8 with Portland Mayor Sam Adams, to see how the larger city might help with financing or otherwise get involved.
Taxpayers, assume the position.
| Posted at 9:43 AM | Permalink |
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Comments (13)
The Portland parasite has tentacles in all directions.
Posted by Ben | August 1, 2011 10:11 AM
It seems odd that this location didn't occur to anyone when the Beavers were looking for a home. This is a way better fit than Lents Park or Memorial Coliseum.
Posted by Usual Kevin | August 1, 2011 11:41 AM
And of course these baseball stadiums are made possible ONLY because of light rail...
(Never mind Keizer, Eugene, Yakima, Seattle, Spokane, or any of the hundreds of baseball stadiums in America that have no rail access - and in many cases, no mass transit at all (i.e. Keizer).
Posted by Erik H. | August 1, 2011 12:24 PM
Don't worry, I'm sure the lame duck Mayor will see to the people's interest and make sure the correct and fiscally responsible decision is made.
HAHAHAHAHahahahaa. Whew. Can't believe I made it through that without losing it*
*may work better with verbal delivery.
Posted by MachineShedFred | August 1, 2011 12:29 PM
The Milwaukie Micro-Brewers?
Posted by Bill McDonald | August 1, 2011 12:39 PM
Or, the Milwaukie Craves.
Posted by Mojo | August 1, 2011 1:39 PM
Let's build a train to Atlantis.
Posted by Mr. Grumpy | August 1, 2011 1:48 PM
Bill McD: You beat me to it!
Posted by Bill Holmer | August 1, 2011 4:04 PM
Hey now.... it's all for the children (of the richies who get the contracts to build this stuff)
Posted by LucsAdvo | August 1, 2011 8:19 PM
Usual Kevin: The site doesn't work for the Beavers because of the size of the stadium, it would only seat 4,000 people... and there's no room for expansion based on the artist's depiction. The small stadium is fine for A ball, though.
Posted by nobody | August 1, 2011 8:24 PM
Wouldn't that be the Milwaukie Max-felonies?
Posted by umpire | August 1, 2011 8:42 PM
There are some nice features to this. First, the location along relatively un-used McLoughlin Boulevard is a stroke of pure genius. And hey! It'll be a public/private partnership! Gotta love that!
Sure hope their single-A team doesn't drive traffic away from the Little League and girls' softball league championchips held at Alpenrose Dairy.
Posted by Max | August 1, 2011 8:55 PM
First, the location along relatively un-used McLoughlin Boulevard is a stroke of pure genius.
I count Holman Distribution as a nice little business (with rail access) that would be displaced taking dozens of jobs PLUS an rail-served (read: "Green") industry away; the ODOT facility that supports dozens of good paying necessary government jobs (like it or not, the state highway system in Portland is pretty damn essential - for every one person riding MAX on the Green Line, there's 20 people on I-205 and who knows how many more people on Oregon Route 213, a.k.a. Cascade Highway North, a.k.a. S.E. 82nd Avenue.
Building a baseball stadium would require significant changes to Highway 99E in this area, severely impacting traffic flow (not for the better). The loss of this prime industrial land with convenient rail plus major highway access would be difficult to mitigate anywhere else. "Mixed-Use" opportunities are non-existant.
Meanwhile there are several unused parcels of land further east along the UP mainline that have absolutely no current use (not even agricultural or parkland); a nice open area between 64th and 72nd and south of Maplehurst that is completely devoid of anything; and of course the Radio Towers site off of I-205. Or even the K-Mart store - supposedly Sears Holdings Company is more interested in being an investment vehicle than operating a bunch of stores so why not use that property? Or the landfill site in Oregon City?
Posted by Erik H. | August 1, 2011 10:00 PM