Paulson Seeks Public Money To Make Portland Venue MLS-Ready
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Paulson Believes MLS Team In Portland
Would Give City Desired "Big-City Cachet" |
Triple-A PCL Portland Beavers and USL Portland Timbers Owner Merritt Paulson said that to recruit MLS to Portland he "needs taxpayers to put up $85[M] to upgrade PGE Park and move Triple-A baseball to a new stadium in Southeast Portland," according to Jeremy Lang of the Portland OREGONIAN. Portland officials said that they "may be willing to sell taxpayer-backed bonds to finance part of the projects," but sources and public records indicate that "team revenues and rent on the city-owned stadiums wouldn't be nearly enough to cover the entire debt payments." Therefore, Paulson -- "who plans to spend $40[M] of his own money for the soccer franchise -- is trying to shake loose more public money from" city and state government to "bridge the gap." Paulson has "hired A-list Portland consultants, donated to the campaigns of key politicians, hired specialists to tout the economic benefits and put up a Web site asking fans to pepper City Hall with e-mails." A city e-mail indicated that MLS Commissioner Don Garber "has said Portland would get an expansion team in 2011 if the city built a soccer-specific stadium," and Lang noted "retrofitting PGE Park for just soccer would meet that edict." Paulson, who submitted his proposal to the league Tuesday, said that MLS would give Portland "the big-city cachet it has longed for." Also, in a study for Paulson, L.A.-based Economic Research Associates estimated that the two projects "would bring the equivalent of 300 permanent jobs and $25[M] a year in new spending to Portland." Paulson: "I feel like I'm creating an opportunity for the city. It's not easy, but I think it makes sense for Portland on a number of levels" (OREGONLIVE.com, 10/7).
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