Saving and restoring Veterans Memorial Coliseum is in keeping with Portland’s values, aspirations and leadership in the fields of sustainability, urban planning and historic preservation. Our city seeks to be an international design capital, and how we treat our most renowned landmarks says a lot about whether we’re willing to walk the talk.

 

Sustainability

Over the past two decades Portland has become an international leader in sustainable design. Our city has had more buildings per capita receive LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the US Green Building council than any other city. Portland was the first US city to reduce its greenhouse gas levels. Even the greenest new construction is not as sustainable as preserving a viable building. For a letter of support from the US Green Building Council, click here.

 

Historic Preservation

Portland is a national leader in preserving and celebrating our historic treasures. We’ve preserved and renovated our historic Central Library, City Hall, Civic Stadium (now Jeld-Wen Field) and our Armory (now the Gerding Theater). In each case, historic preservation wasn’t just a matter of architectural and cultural heritage, but economic advantage. For a letter of support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, click here.

 

Urban Planning

Centrally located just across the Willamette River from downtown, Veterans Memorial Coliseum exemplifies how Portland has eschewed the path of many other US cities that sprawl endlessly with spaghetti-like freeways, lifeless subdivisions and banal strip malls. We’ve already re-imagined much of the central city in burgeoning redeveloped neighborhoods like the Pearl District and South Waterfront. Portland’s next great opportunity is to transform its close-in east side, with landmarks like the Coliseum, the Oregon Convention Center and Lloyd Center anchoring a vibrant high-density enclave of transit-oriented, mixed-use development.

 

Design Capital

Portland in the past decade has become one of America’s foremost centers for design of all sorts, with iconic brands like Nike, Wieden & Kennedy, Ziba and Columbia Sportswear based here as well as a robust high-tech startup community. Companies and insitutions come to Portland because of its vibrant urban culture and pioneering approaches.

 

Saving and restoring Veterans Memorial Coliseum to its full design potential is the Portland way. Organizations like the US Green Building Council, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the American Institute of Architects have all advocated in writing for the Coliseum’s preservation. The kind of design capital we want to be and remain doesn’t tear down internationally-renowned architecture. For a letter of support from the American Institute of Architects, click here.