Hawks want MC makeover
Team says smaller, upgraded coliseum would ‘pencil out’
PIPER
A couple of years from now, maybe this is the scene …
Another Western Hockey League season is about to start. The Portland Winterhawks are shooting for an opening-night sellout of 7,000 at their remodeled Memorial Coliseum. Fans entering the arena can see past Winterhawk highlights on the large replay screens that are part of a new scoreboard. Some fans are filing into the new club areas and viewing lounges. The restrooms are bright, clean and modern. And it no longer takes half a period to get a hot dog at a concession stand.
A dream? At the moment, yes. But the Winterhawks are trying to convince politicians and planners that it can, and should, happen.
“We think we could fill the coliseum on a regular basis and that it would be a great hockey venue for our level, and a great size for concerts and other things coming through,” says Doug Piper, team president.
A task force formed in July by Mayor Sam Adams is the latest group to consider what to do with the Rose Quarter and the coliseum, the half-century-old, multipurpose facility that recently joined the National Register of Historic Places.
The Trail Blazers have tried to get support for a large entertainment district at the Rose Quarter. The Winterhawks, who play most of their games at the coliseum and some at the Rose Garden, say that could benefit them, and that they’d be good for a renovated coliseum, too.
“We think the best use for the building is to remodel it so it can be used by us as a permanent home,” Piper says. “We would provide a revenue stream, and we think there are some options for adding community recreational elements that would help make it a 24-7 destination.”
The Winterhawks are talking with Doug Obletz, a developer who has recommended turning Memorial Coliseum into a recreational center.
Piper says the coliseum also “could be a good place for retail or other types of leasable space – restaurants and that sort of thing – to take advantage of the location and views. The potential is great.”
A winning idea
Capacity of 7,000 –trimmed from the current 10,400 for hockey –would be ideal, Piper says. The Winterhawks would continue to have their offices in the building, and they would be able to practice there regularly, instead of having to travel to rinks in the suburbs.
The Hawks, Piper says, “haven’t heard of any new non-spectator facility use for the coliseum that pencils out going forward, so we think we probably have a winning idea. It’s more about who’s going to run it and how it’s going to work.”
Piper says the Winterhawks would not necessarily have to manage the coliseum, which has been run for years by the Blazers.
“We’d love to operate the building,” he says. “It’s important for us to maximize our opportunity to have a share of the revenue streams. But the Blazers have something to say about that. We want to get along well with them, for sure.”
So the Winterhawks are “supportive of the Blazers developing the Rose Quarter so that it’s more active,” Piper says.
Piper wouldn’t speculate on what a coliseum remodel to suit the Winterhawks and other ventures might cost.
“But new buildings of that size are going for $80 million,” he says.
Would the Winterhawks be involved in paying for a remodel?
“It depends,” he says. “If there are back-end revenues commensurate for the investment … if we’re going to be a partner, we would want to have our cut, so to speak, to recoup our investment.”
Piper acknowledges that “in this economy, it’s not easy,” to get financial support for sports facilities. “They don’t pencil out if there’s some sort of public subsidy, just like with what happened with PGE Park. But if you get on the right side of a ballot measure or something, it certainly can happen.”
While saying that “a redone coliseum can be a tremendous product,” Piper adds that the Winterhawks aren’t sure what would happen if the city chooses to do something else with the building. The team could seek support for a new building in other cities – including Vancouver, Wash. Playing full-time (36 regular-season home games) in the Rose Garden would be very difficult, he says, because the Blazers get most of the choice dates and revenue.
“We like playing in the Rose Garden, but we’d have a hard time overcoming those issues,” Piper says.
Contending for first place
The Hawks averaged only 3,648 fans per game last season and have steadily declined since drawing 6,129 per game in 2005-06. The team’s record also fell off dramatically during that period, but the club has rebounded with young talent, new coaches and a new owner, Bill Gallacher of Calgary, Alberta. The Winterhawks are 12-5 and are contending for first place in the U.S. Division.
Building the attendance average from a projected 4,000 or so this season to 5,000, 6,000 or 7,000 is “absolutely” feasible, Piper predicts. “We expect to make the playoffs this year, and I think that will make a huge difference in how things play out. … The team’s been at that level before. It’s not like we’re asking the community to do something that hasn’t been done, and the Portland population has grown since then.”
And, although Gallacher has expressed some interest in becoming an NHL owner, it isn’t like that he would have an NHL team in Portland, Piper says.
“We don’t have any designs for NHL in Portland,” Piper says. “That is completely in the Blazers’ hands. The only way it could happen is for Paul Allen to decide they want it.”
Piper estimates that the type of coliseum remodel the Winterhawks favor would take about 18 months.
“We would certainly be careful about the architectural integrity to make sure it is still the coliseum,” he says.
But, “this is going to be a big remodel, no matter what you do with the building. It’s going to have to be changed dramatically. You can’t just put some paint on this and call it good.”