“The dreamers whom Steve Brown bikes with can see it already: a velodrome, with a gasp-inducing view of downtown Portland, centrally situated to draw on the city’s bicycle culture and attract businesses, families and world-class racers. And for them, the dream comes alive … inside Memorial Coliseum.”
— Intro from article in The Oregonian on July 16th
As the Mayor’s Office puts the pieces together on a process to re-think Memorial Coliseum, the idea to install a velodrome inside the building remains a front-runner.
“If there was a bike racing track in Memorial Coliseum, it would be so packed with bike fans it would look like the Beatles came to Portland every event night.”
— Sarah Mirk, Portland Mercury
Also in that story, it was reported that Steve Brown has met with the Trail Blazers to pitch his idea. As holders of right of first refusal on whatever happens to the Coliseum, the Blazers will play a key role in the building’s future. According to The O, the Blazer’s Senior VP called the velodrome, “…certainly an option that should be considered and explored.”
Prior to that story, in article in The O about the task force being formed to revitalize the Coliseum, reporter Mark Larabee mentioned an “indoor bike track” as one of three ideas being tossed around.
The Portland Mercury called the velodrome idea “Fantasy use #1/1000”, but in a blog post about it they wrote, “If there was a bike racing track in Memorial Coliseum, it would be so packed with bike fans it would look like the Beatles came to Portland every event night.”
Mayor Adams is currently putting together the Rose Quarter Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC). That committee will help develop the criteria for evaluating which ideas pass muster for the “renovation or adaptive reuse of the Coliseum.” They’ll give their top recommendations to City Council in spring of 2010. If you want to help shape the future of Memorial Coliseum, applications are due by August 5th.