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PGE Park: Lasting impressions of a Ballpark Hunter

by Marc Viquez
December 10, 2009 - Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Portland Beavers


The pomp and circumstances surrounding new minor league ballparks in Columbus, Ohio, Bowling Green, Ky., and Ft. Wayne, Ind., are justifiably legit; they create a new blueprint for which man now can use to construct ballparks. However, there is a ballpark in Portland, Ore., that has struck my fancy as it enters its tenth decade: I am talking about PGE Park.

A friend of mine wanted to take a trip to Oregon and I told her not without a visit to PGE Park-home to the Pacific Coast League's Portland Beavers-and once we straighten out a few details, we were on our way to check out a game. This friend of mine is a female, platonic friend, who has journeyed with me in the past few years to witness games in Southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky; she always enjoys her time, no matter how funky the ballpark maybe. As long as she was game and did not disrupt my love affair with the stadium, I would be all right.

I had been here in 2004, but through the gunpowder skies and tyranny of rain, I did not get a chance to see much of a game. Instead, I walked around the colossal hallways, vaulted entrances and marveled at how old-and new-this place felt. It was as if someone had renovated The Colloseum and placed a ballpark inside of it. The people of Rome might not be too keen on a baseball game, but in Portland there is a desire to watch minor league baseball, if the weather is behaving long enough to complete nine innings.

I took an extensive amount of photos of PGE Park, but regrettable lost them somewhere on my way back to Indianapolis. It was most likely somewhere during my connection in Atlanta, but gone forever was a 35 millimeter roll of film (was not using digital at the time), a pound of See's Candy (a must have with any trip out to the West Coast) and an autobiography on Don Cherry (I wonder what happened in the 1979 NHL Playoffs). I was not sure when I would be back to see a game in Portland, but my patience was rewarded this past summer when my friend and I made our summer vacation plans.

Unlike all new stadiums, PGE Park beckons to another era of stadium design: where one built simple professional playgrounds for sporting events and not much else. They did not take into consideration the concept of wide concourses, numerous bathroom stalls, copious concession stands spread evenly around and accommodations towards the fan who wants to grab a drink, but not miss one nanosecond of the game. It was a place to sit, watch a game and either brave the crowd on the concourse level or wait patiently in long meticulous lines for the bathroom.

In 2001, $38.5 million dollars was pumped into the stadium to bring AAA baseball back to the city and the grizzled old stadium took on its second life as a 21st century minor league ballpark. What was created was a pleasurable mixture of the past and present, turning a once archaic relic into a hip and fashionable destination: not only for the baseball traditionalist, but for both football and soccer enthusiasts.

PGE ParkYou will not find an LED ribbon screen, a hot tub or specifically angled seats, but a sixty foot wide and seven story hand operated scoreboard in leftfield that features a working bell and a small porch that hovers over the playing field. The men who work the scoreboard stand high above the playing area, but are harnessed in quite firmly to prevent injury.

The stone grey leftfield walls are littered with green ivy; up above on the street level is plenty of standing room for folks who paid for a ticket inside and for those who took the less expensive route: standing room only outside the black wrought iron fence on SW 18th Ave. Also on the street, is the office building of The Oregonian and the TRI-MET Light Rail-which I have been told is the largest light rail system in the United States. You truly get a sense of where you are here at PGE Park; the only thing missing is a foretaste of a snowcapped Mt. Hood.

Throughout the stadium, you will find arched entrances, art deco style marquee displays, two bronze face sculptures-that add even more uniqueness to the facility- and pictures from the stadium's 83-year-old history. Yes, one has to exit the playing area for their concession, but for a park that was built in 1926-I will make do with what some may call a slight imperfection. PGE Park stands out like a season vet that still has a few good years left in him, but like a cold gallon of milk in the refrigerator, baseball at the stadium maybe nearing its expiration date.

The Beavers may be forced to vacate the stadium after the upcoming season, if team owner Merrit Paulson, who also owns the Portland Timbers of the United Soccer League and hopes to move them into Major League Soccer for the 2011 season, is able to secure land to build a new stadium for the Bevos. The Portland City council recently approved $31 million in renovations that will forever convert the stadium into a soccer/football only facility. That beautiful seven story scoreboard and ivy laced wall will be replaced with 6,500 permanent covered seats to expand the stadium's capacity to close to 20,000. At the time of this writing, there has not been a site picked for the new ballpark: Vancouver, Wash., has been the latest city as a possibly candidate-which sits across the Columbia River from Portland.

It is quite possible that within a few short years, baseball at PGE Park will cease to exist, but even though some will be disappointed - others will simply move on to watch games at a new facility - the stadium will live on as a soccer palace for a group of individuals in the Rose City to revel in for years to come. The bronze statues will still be there, so will the arched entrances, but wherever the Beavers end up-replicating the venue they presently call home will be a daunting task. PGE Park will then rank on a list of former minor league ballparks that a copious group of individuals will get the chance to talk to a younger generation about: sharing experiences, embellishing stories of up and coming major leaguers and, perhaps most importantly, creating a legacy for many for years to come.



Pacific Coast League Stories from December 10, 2009


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