Excerpts from a June 16 presentation at the Portland Business Alliance forum about the future of Memorial Coliseum:

'We saw the (riverfront) strip where the Red Lion used to be as an opportunity to develop some office space and keep employers who were leaving for the suburbs in Portland.'

Ñ Mark Edlen of Gerding/Edlen

Development, discussing a proposal to convert the coliseum to a retail outlet

'There are 330,000 people who live in the core of the city, and there is no large-scale retailer such as Lowe's or Home Depot serving them. People are leaving the city to do their shopping in the suburbs.'

Ñ Edlen

'This same kind of development in the suburbs would chew up 25 acres within the urban growth boundary. This proposal uses 4.'

Ñ Edlen, referring to the coliseum's size and existing parking infrastructure

'Think of it as an indoor Delta Park.'

Ñ Doug Obletz of Shiels Obletz Johnsen, a Portland architectural firm that has put forth a plan to convert the coliseum into a public recreation facility

'I've suggested taking the two walls from down in the wells and bringing them up to the main plaza. There's going to be a lot more veterans that need a memorial, unfortunately.'

Ñ Bill Scott of the Veterans Action Committee, a local group trying to ensure that the coliseum continues to be a memorial to soldiers killed in combat