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This is exactly the kind of thinking that keeps Portland from ever progressing anywhere.  The Beatles played the Coliseum for one day in 1965.  That's one event (two shows, but still), 45 years ago, by my math - not exactly a compelling argument to keep the thing standing.

The Memorial Coliseum is functionally obsolete - it costs the city hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and does nothing that couldn't be absorbed by the Rose Garden next door. So it should stay because of...nostalgia?  Dubious architectural significance?

There is absolutely no need to have two multipurpose venues right next door to each other.  Look at Staples Center in LA - three basketball teams call it home, as does a hockey team, and they have concerts there all the time.  And it's all one building.  Wachovia Center in Philly, same thing.  Modern stadia are built to easily handle as many events as can be thrown at them.  Why have two?

I would have loved to see a baseball stadium there, but now that that's not an option I still think the Coliseum needs to go and be replaced by something else.

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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