In a bid to lure a Major League Baseball (MLB) team to Portland city, the Portland Diamond Project Group recently announced that it has signed an agreement in principle with the Port of Portland to develop a 45-acre waterfront site, according to multiple media reports.
The group also released artist renderings of a new “state-of-the-art ballpark” at the port’s Terminal 2, which features a retractable roof, gondola suite, and centerfield and home-plate plazas, among other features. The capacity of the ballpark would be between 32,000 and 34,000, according to John McIsaac, a spokesman for Portland Diamond Project.
McIsaac said the group has talked with MLB and he said they “love” the announcement. Portland Diamond Project is targeting 2022 for first pitch. McIsaac said he believes if the group has a stadium, Portland will get a team one way or another.
“Building an iconic, state-of-the-art ballpark along the Willamette River will catalyze economic development and capture great views of both the urban scale of the city and regional character of the Pacific Northwest,” the group’s founder and president, Craig Cheek, said in a statement.
The group analyzed several available properties in the city with the intention of finding a suitable site for a 30,000-seat ballpark.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has repeatedly said expansion will not be considered until after the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays get new ballparks, and he believes both those clubs will get new stadiums in their current areas.
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