Alpenrose lawsuit and sale dies; the velodrome and ‘cross venue lives!

The velodrome is home to several race events each year.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Great news to start off your weekend: The Portland Tribune reported a few hours ago that the possible sale of Alpenrose Dairy that would have ended public access to the velodrome and cyclocross venue is off.

As we shared earlier this month, fears of a sale of the dairy and surrounding property led to a lawsuit by members of the Cadonau family. They aimed to stop the sale, which they claimed was nothing more than a money-grab by other members of the ownership family.

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A few minutes ago we received a statement from the suit’s plaintiffs: Tracey Cadonau McKinnon, Carl Cadonau III and Cary Cadonau:

Petition on Change.org.

“We filed a lawsuit to prevent a sale that would have ended Alpenrose Dairy as we and the community know and love. The outpouring of support from the Alpenrose community was overwhelming. We are pleased to report that our collective efforts have resulted in the termination of the pending sale. Accordingly, there is no reason to continue the lawsuit. We are humbled by and deeply grateful for the support of the Alpenrose community.”

In addition to a beloved venue for cycling, Alpenrose was home to other community assets like a little league field, a theater, and more.

A petition to save the dairy has gathered well over 9,000 signatures.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Kate
Kate
4 years ago

Best news of the week! Or month! Feeling extremely relieved and grateful.

KristenT
KristenT
4 years ago

AWESOME news!!! Not only for the velodrome, but also for the Quarter Midget racers and the Little League players and the thespians who use the Opera house. And for everyone who enjoys the dairy as an open space for the community!

Bikeninja
Bikeninja
4 years ago

Yeah, a win for the forces of good over the grifters.

Keith
Keith
4 years ago

YAHOO! Please show your support by ALWAYS buying Alpenrose products.

Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger
4 years ago

Who Knew – that a dairy had so much!! And that cows support theatre, cycle races and ball games! What a model.

Perhaps our diminishing roster of dairies in the State of Hawaii can learn a thing or two from Alpenrose.

JerryW
JerryW
4 years ago

Ok, that buys some time for now. Time to plan and raise funding for a nice (but not too nice) indoor track facility. Maybe a wealthy sports oriented donor will come forward. We can rest, this may be temporary and an indoor track is needed now.

Johnny Bye Carter
Johnny Bye Carter
4 years ago

This whole thing makes no sense to me. Trying to file a lawsuit to stop somebody else from selling their property just because you like what’s currently there. And now it seems they’re just saying “oh, we don’t want the millions of dollars anymore”.

Mike Quigley
Mike Quigley
4 years ago

Family feuds don’t end that easily. Especially where lots of money is involved (before the federal subsidies vanish?). Watch for this to rear it’s ugly head again. Most likely sooner than later.

SERider
SERider
4 years ago

Don’t think you understand the situation. Both sides of the lawsuit are “owners” of the dairy. This is more about disagreement between owners.

“fears of a sale of the dairy and surrounding property led to a lawsuit by members of the Cadonau family. They aimed to stop the sale, which they claimed was nothing more than a money-grab by other members of the ownership family.”

Johnny Bye Carter
Johnny Bye Carter
4 years ago

After reading more of that lawsuit filing that I’d hoped, it seems that there are a lot of conditions in all the legal agreements throughout the years that control which family members have how many shares and how many votes are needed for any kind of sale action. So this looks like a simple matter of more than half of the owners wanting to sell but they actual need three-quarters plus board approval and some other stipulations.

tl;dl: We own more than half, we’re selling it. Oh, turns out we need a higher percent than that.

KristenT
KristenT
4 years ago

Add in the fact that the original owner (the grandfather, I believe) intended the site to be a place for the community to use (the quarter midget track has been there more than 50 years, as have the ball fields) and the two who wanted to sell were going against the express written wishes of their grandfather.

Alpenrose Dairy was always intended to be a place for the community as well as a dairy, and the two aunts who wanted to sell to a developer wanted the cash they would have got, community be darned.

GlowBoy
GlowBoy
4 years ago

Of course it makes no sense. But this often happens when family owned businesses get passed down to later generations. Often the disputes over what to do with the business or property boils over into the courts. Unfortunate and senseless, but not really surprising.