PORTLAND, Ore. — The owner of the Portland Beavers is withdrawing his proposal to build a ballpark in the city’s Lents neighborhood following community opposition.
Merritt Paulson says focus must be placed on funding renovations to Portland’s downtown PGE Park for a Major League Soccer franchise. The Portland Timbers soccer team, which Paulson will own, is expected to start play in 2011.
Because PGE Park would no longer be able to host the Beavers, the search is on to find a place for a new ballpark.
Plans to tear down the city’s Memorial Coliseum and put the ballpark adjacent to the Rose Garden were scrubbed earlier.
Then hundreds of opponents turned out at a meeting over a Lents ballpark on Thursday night.
Mayor Sam Adams said Thursday the Beavers almost certainly will have to leave town if the Lents plan fails. “I don’t see another option,” he said.
Paulson, who owns both the Beavers and the Timbers soccer team, previously raised the possibility of having the Beavers play in Vancouver, Wash., or Hillsboro. The Beavers also could move much farther away. The Pacific Coast League has seen a few franchise shifts in recent years. Edmonton moved to Round Rock, Texas, after the 2004 season. The Tucson Sidewinders moved to Reno before the start of this season.
“We are committed to securing the agreement with the city to start Major League Soccer in Portland in 2011 and plan to do everything possible to keep Beavers baseball in Portland or the Portland area,” Paulson said in a statement. “I look forward to working with city officials to achieve both these goals for the benefit of the local economy and community.”
The Beavers will play all 72 of their home games in PGE Park next season before having to leave to make way for renovations that give the stadium a soccer-specific design.
Information from: The Oregonian, www.oregonlive.com
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