PGE Park - Portland, OR
Posted by: 
shadow101
N 45° 31.351 W 122° 41.538
10T E 524030 N 5041044
This stadium in downtown Portland has hosted baseball, football, soccer and other sports since 1926.
Waymark Code: WM2KWX
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 11/18/2007
Views: 77
Almost 200 years ago, a tannery was built to serve the young town of Portland just west of where the park is now. The whole area was called Tanner Creek Gulch, but the location for the park remained pastureland until it was purchased by the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club in 1883. The club used the land for outdoor events, and in 1885 started to build wooden seating for spectators. It was then christened Multnomah Field. By the 1920s, it was decided that a more permanent and spectator-friendly pacility was needed, so construction started on the current stadium in 1925. Multnomah Stadium was inaugurated on October 9, 1926, having come in at $2,000 over the budget of $500,000. The first event was a football game, with the University of Washington defeating the University of Oregon 23-9.
The stadium, as originally planned, was to be in a "U" shape, with the buildings of the now renamed Multnomah Athletic Club on the bluff above the open end. But MAC was unable to buy all of the property on the east side, so it was built in a "J" shape. This was actually fortunate, as in later years in permitted baseball to be played with normal field dimensions. The stadium was a single deck concrete structure, with a large steel roof over all of the seats (important in Oregon's rainy climate). The field has been artificial since 1969, currently using two sets of Field Turf (one for baseball, one for football/soccer).
Through the years, it has hosted a multitude of events: championship prize fighting, political rally's, religious revivals and rock concerts. Once, during the 50s, a temporary shi jump was built in the outfield. Until they could build suitable facilities of their own, both Oregon U and Oregon State would hold games against major opponents here. But even with all of that, the stadium only had two major tenants.
The first was dog racing. In 1933 the legislature legalized parimutual betting in Oregon (as a depression-era revenue source), and the Multnomah Kennel Club was established. From 1933-55, the rent was paid by betting on dogs. Then, in 1956, baseball arrived, evicting the dogs but returning professional sports to downtown Portland. Since then the stadium has had a professional team every year except one (1994). Ten years later the MAC sold the stadium to the City of Portland for $2.1 million. The stadium was refurbished, and the name was changed to Civic Stadium. In 2001 the stadium was made over again, this time to the tune of $38.5 million; all of the seats were replaced, club seating and luxury boxes were built behind home plate the locker rooms and concessions were upgraded, and a new scoreboard was installed. The city also signed a deal to rename the park for Portland's electric utility. In 2007 it was announced that PGE Park will host the 2009 AAA Baseball All-Star Game.
It's the home of which team(s)?: Portland Beavers (baseball), Portland Timbers (soccer), Portland State U. Vikings (football)
Which professional sports are played here?: baseball, soccer
Capacity (number of seats): 19566
Opening Date: 10/09/1926
Guided Tours: yes
Venue's Website or Team's Website: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
1) Tell how was your visit. Were you at a game, which one? Have you just visited it by the outside, on a guided tour maybe? Are you a fan?
2) Pictures:
- They should be taken by YOU.
- No internet pictures are allowed.
- Upload one photo, at least. It would be great if you'd upload one of the venue and one with you on the photo.
- No need of photos with the GPSr.
- Extra credits for photos inside, with the teams playing.