You can have it good, fast, or cheap. Pick two. (old project manager proverb)

Losing the roof should be a real boon to the already anemic PSU football attendance, too. Not to mention any high school games that are played there on a rainy, Friday night.

I am pretty sure the roof is staying. That drawing must be to show the seat locations? This site shows the purported views from different seats. http://pgepark.io-media.com/

What hasn't been mentioned in the media yet is that there is a plan in the works for Paulson to eventually commandeer the Morrison and 20th blocks that border PGE Park, in order to create a fan zone on game days. That was mentioned in passing by his architects at a Design Commmission hearing in the spring. When will that come up for public review -- after it's already a done deal?

Also, the plans submitted to the Design Commission in the spring appear to show that there won't be any restrooms in the new press box being built along what is now the right field side of the existing grandstand. That'll go over great with the out-of-town media when they discover that they'll have to battle it out with soccer fans to go to the public restrooms along the existing concourse at halftime.

And, by the way, the concourse for the existing grandstand is approximately 23,000 square feet in area. That's less than one-third the area normally required by MLS. That means there is only room for approximately 3,000 people at any given time. And that means that up to 15,000 people in the existing grandstand will be physically unable to leave their seats to go to the restroom or buy food and beverages at halftime.

Maybe that's the logic behind having less than half the number of restroom fixures, and less than half the number of concession stands that MLS normally requires as a minimum standard.

This is what Paulson's people described in the Oregonian back in April as the "old school" experience that they want to preserve. Tell that to families with children.

In addition, nearly half of the stadium's seating will remain bench-style seating, and the current seats allocate just 18" per seat location, while the median adult measures 21" wide at the shoulders. So, unless that is changed, then in any given row, for every seven tickets sold, only six people, on average, will actually fit.

Who knew that Paulson and Mayor Adams have the power to waive the laws of physics?

Finally, the team's website states that all season ticket holders will receive free, all-day, all-zone Tri-Met passes for use on game days. Who's paying for that?

Geez Peter, you don't really think soccer is ever going to be popular enough to fill that stadium, do you? They'll be lucky to get 50% but we will see. I know I will never attend a soccer game. I don't think they think it will ever be SRO around there either.

Well most season ticket holders may not exactly want those Tri-Met passes... just sayin'

I've been critical of losing a baseball team and a baseball stadium over this, but I have to apologize for believing the hype. It turns out the whole "change the stadium forever into an enclosed horseshoe" bit was as credible as Henry Paulson talking about what he was going to do with the TARP money.
Sure the surrounding businesses lose out on the many additional nights the place will be dark, but I don't see any lasting damage.
Frankly, I've seen 2-car garages that look more permanent than the new roof. It doesn't look like an enclosed stadium. It looks like one of those covered patios people add onto the house.
If MLS fails, we could have a baseball stadium back in three weeks. We could have a high school shop class take that thing back down as a senior project. So I'm sorry that I overreacted to the B.S.

That reminds me:

Memo to the Timbers spokesman: We're still in hype mode about how terrible the old PGE Park was, and how all this absolutely had to happen, so saying, "It's already such a great place to watch a match" is not helpful.

Have to admire your stubborness, if not your fact-checking. The roof is only being removed in the cyberworld of the team's website, so potential purchasers can see where their seats might be. (It is startling when you see that image for the first time, though.)

BTW, the Timbers had two games in four days last week that drew a combined 30,000. During Sunday's game, they experimented with some kind of closure on Morrison, I think making it one-way between 18th and 20th. Back in the Pokey Allen days when PSU football was drawing well, the Vikings completely closed Morrison from 20th Avenue west to stage tailgate parties.

Roger,
I seem to remember plenty of discussion of how awful the benches were at PGE Park. Yes, I seem to remember that coming up in most discussions of why the place had to be remodeled.

Are they really keeping 50% of them for the lower classes, while the improvements are for the better off? My, how very Goldman Sachs of them.

The roof "disappears" on the website so you can see the seating arrangement/prices. Nothing to see here, the roof will remain.

I love that they're going to cram all of this construction into the winter months. And, if the weather forecasters are even close to right, this could be a bear of a La Nina winter - storms, wind, and even a fair amount of low-elevation snow. Oh, and lots of rain and cold weather. Does the construction budget cover all of that overtime?

The avg person is 21 in , I am over 24 in , and have unpleasant memories of the year my blazer seats were next to a guy about 280 lbs who ooozed into my seat.

Have to admire your stubborness, if not your fact-checking.

I checked my facts and posted my update at 10:17 last night. You came on here with your soccer-scarf snark at 9:06 the next morning, correcting something that's already been corrected. This is good -- it's helping me understand abnormal psychology.

. .And if that sewer line caves, it's Katy bar the goal. .

Remember a few weeks ago, some mention of a $412 million bond was it for sewers? Did anyone find out details? Could it be for some underground fix-up for this stadium?

I doubt that any of the proceeds of that bond issue are going to fix this sewer. This one has been on a list of potential replacements for years, but now it has both a Max track and a very spendy renovated stadium (soon to be doubly renovated, neither paid for) over it. Nobody's going down there unless they absolutely have to.

In terms of transportation to and from the Park Timbers season ticket holders have 4 options:

1. pay for a parking spot
2. pay for secure bike parking
3. receive 1 all day Tri-Met pass per season ticket purchased
4. pledge to walk and/or bike to matches and receive a modest discount

As for the funding of option 3. my guess is that the cost is built into the ticket price.