Merritt Paulson‘s father, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, pushed for quick passage of last fall’s financial bailout dubbed the Paulson Plan. Now Merritt Paulson is asking the City of Portland to move quickly on a redevelopment plan that includes the renovation of PGE Park, the home of the future MLS Portland team.
Some are questioning, though, why the redevelopment plan for inner North Portland — with a price tag of $250 million — must move so quickly. It would include work on PGE Park, the revamping of the Rose Quarter with a new baseball park and entertainment district and tearing down of Memorial Coliseum. The city is “shoving this down our throats,” said Mike Warwick, land-use chairman for the Eliot neighborhood near the Rose Quarter.
The work on PGE Park will turn the park configured for baseball into a soccer- and football-only stadium and add bathrooms and concessions. It must be done by 2011 to be ready for Portland’s first MLS season.