Gametime approaches Monday at Memorial Coliseum (photo by Brian Libby)
As game time neared on Monday night, a bright early evening sunset bathed Memorial Coliseum with light. Fans poured into the 50-year-old arena to see basketball, but they did not abandon the picturesque sight of the sunset over downtown Portland by walking inside.
It was a losing effort for Rip City in this exhibition game against the Utah Jazz, with Deron Williams and company jumping out to a 7-0 early lead and winning by nine points. Even so, the mood inside the building was one of casual fun. Longtime Blazers radio announcer and emcee Bill Schonely sang "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful" after explaining to the crowd that 2010 is the 50th anniversary of Memorial Coliseum - "and it's a veterans Memorial Coliseum," he added, indicating that the entire building is the memorial: not just the plaques outside.
Memorial Coliseum Monday night (photo by Brian Libby)
No doubt the building remains in disrepair. Nothing is structurally wrong, but the routine maintenance the city and the Blazers might conceivably have pursued years ago is still waiting to be done. There is an unnecessary second glass wall at the entrance blocking views of the bowl. There is crass cross bracing on the outer west side of the arena. Yet as basketball fans enjoyed an NBA game in what may be the world's only arena with a 360-degree glass view, it was easy to see how special Memorial Coliseum is, and to envision it as the centerpiece of the Rose Garden's future.
Outside the Coliseum after the game, the building glowed like a jewel box. Nearby, surface parking garages along Broadway and Interstate did just the opposite, acting as vacuums of energy and aesthetics. Last night it was clear as ever, standing in the Rose Quarter after dark, that the key to activating this parcel is to make everything on the ground just that: active. Let's bury the parking underground and surround the Coliseum and Rose Garden with greenery, with small local businesses, and with housing. Let's not dismantle the glowing jewel box but address the stacks of concrete and carbon monoxide beside it.
Memorial Coliseum concourse (photos by Brian Libby)
Meanwhile, though, Monday night was a moment to stop and savor the survival of one of the most unique, beautiful and historic buildings built in Portland or the United States during the 20th century. And as Bill Schonely reminded us, it was a moment to remember and honor our veterans by letting the Glass Palace glow.
Memorial Coliseum Monday night (photo by Brian Libby)
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