Good News for Veterans Memorial Coliseum

July. 6, 2024
By: Fred Leeson

One of Portland’s best-known public buildings – beloved by many sports fans -- is on the cusp of a well-planned preservation/restoration project.  The work should add many successful years ahead for the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The 65-year old sports and event arena was upstaged in 1996 by the larger Moda Center located nearby.  Thanks to citizens who vociferously stood for preserving of the VMC when it was threatened with demolition in 2009, the building remains as a remarkable architectural jewel and as a viable venue for sports, concerts and other events.

The $53 million restoration/preservation plan is intended to bring the building up to modern building, electrical and safety codes and to provide more restrooms for women.  Replacement of the 21-inch-wide seats in the arena bowl with wider ones will reduce the building’s total attendance capacity.

The anticipated changes would reduce the 12,000-seat bowl to at most 10,051 for basketball and 9122 for hockey.

Consulting reports finished in 2021 also suggested that the glass facades that inspired the “Glass Palace” nickname might need to be replaced.  The analysis notes, however, “Any new materials that replace the existing must conform to the historic appearance” because the building has been listed as a national historic landmark.

The $53 million budget, composed of regional hotel/motel and rental car taxes, should support work from 2024 to 2026, but it won’t accomplish all the goals set out in the consulting reports.   “Current funding is not adequate to address all of the building’s long term needs and fully unlock its potential, but it will go a long way towards creating a venue that is more accessible, sustainable, reliable, comfortable, and safer,” said Karl Lisle, the city government’s spectator venues program manager.  “In the future, additional funding will need to be secured for additional capital investments.”

In its heyday, the Coliseum hosted the NCAA basketball championship in 1965 and the Trailblazers NBA championship game in 1977, as well as providing home ice for the Portland Buckaroos hockey team.  Concerts included Elvis, the Beatles and Johnny Cash, to name a few.

Glamor dissipated with the advent of the (Rose Garden) Moda Center.  In 2009, Portland’s mayor suggested tearing down the Coliseum for a baseball site.  A handful of dedicated Coliseum lovers, led by architecture writer Brian Libby, architect Stuart Emmons and the late Gil Frey, a veterans advocate, fought for its preservation, citing – among other issues – its potential value as a venue and its outdoor memorial to veterans killed in action.

Years ago, a college professor and architect criticized the building contending that it “lies to you” because the square curtainwall concealed an ovoid seating bowl.  What he missed was the interplay of the geometric shapes when lit at night; and the engineering marvel of four reinforced concrete pillars from which the roof and four walls are suspended.  Designed by the large architecture firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill, the Coliseum is an excellent example of mid-century modern design on a large scale. 

When renovations are completed, the Coliseum will remain as an excellent example of simplicity and thoughtfulness combined to create architectural beauty.  The building also will stand as a testament to preservation advocacy when enough caring people generate public and political support to save a valuable resource.

Fred Leeson is a former president of the Bosco-Milligan Foundation and a member of the foundation's Board of Advisors.