[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Officials with the Portland Trail Blazers, representatives of Portland Beavers owner Merritt Paulson, the Portland Development Commission and others have spent days working to meld the Trail Blazers desire to build a live entertainment district at the Rose Quarter with Paulson’s plans to build a new baseball stadium there.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]What they have come up with so far is a series of designs, all of which incorporate a baseball stadium with home plate closest to Broadway Boulevard facing toward the downtown skyline. The concepts also included variations on an entertainment district that would include retail shopping, restaurants, an interactive Nike exhibit, and potentially a small, 200-room hotel.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]The concepts require the demolition of the Memorial Coliseum, a development that Adams said he didn’t want to come as a surprise to the community. He said veterans would be consulted in the process.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]With work yet to come, Adams called the initial collaboration a sign of action after years of dormant planning.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]“There have been many plans for this district over the years, but very little action,” Adams said. “Now’s the time for action.”[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Ultimately, a final design will come before the City Council on April 21, Adams said.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]The urgency of the design process comes largely from the city’s plan to redevelop PGE Park — the Beavers’ current home – to host a Major League Soccer franchise that will start play in 2011.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]That plan includes building a $55 million baseball stadium for the Beavers on the site of Memorial Coliseum in time for the 2011 season.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]But Trail Blazers officials have balked, airing concerns that a Rose Quarter baseball stadium could hamper the NBA franchise’s redevelopment plans. Among the concerns was the potential loss of critical parking structures and the team’s office building.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]J. Isaac, the team’s senior vice president of business affairs, lauded the efforts thus far.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]“We at least now understand what each other’s needs are,” Isaac said.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]But challenges remain. The concepts thus far still would remove the team’s offices and potentially the parking structures.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]Adams said those issues are being worked out, and solutions could include adding levels to the parking structures.[/SIZE][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][SIZE=2]The city is still working to fill gaps in the financing of the stadium projects. Financial projections for the Rose Quarter development, Adams said, aren’t part of the design process under way the past two days.[/SIZE][/FONT]