Remember the Blazer's recently released really horrible "Water is Magic!" redesign idea for the Rose Quarter?

Another idea cropped up in the Sunday Oregonian. In a guest column, architect Doug Obletz (who as president of a Portland-based design firm, could have a stake in the redesign if his idea gets traction) says instead of tearing down the Memorial Coliseum for a baseball park, the city should build the ballpark on the site of Portland Public School's "oversized and outdated" Blanchard Education Center just north of Broadway.

Since the public paid for the Coliseum, writes Obletz, they should get a say in what happens to the site. And besides, at 50 years old, the Coliseum could qualify to be a historic landmark. (sidenote: The fact that something 50 years old qualifies as "historic" on the West Coast is hilarious) "Don’t tear it down - do the Portland thing: re-use it. By saving the glass box and removing the seating bowl, we can create a huge, flexible space and fill it with new uses," says Obletz. At his website, Obletz has a grand vision and renderings to boot: "Let's ask if they are willing to convert the Coliseum to a public sports and recreation center with pools, gyms, indoor soccer and lacrosse fields, a velodrome and indoor track open to all, with scholarships and grant programs to make sure no one gets turned away."

Do Portlanders really care about saving the Memorial Coliseum? Maybe if it still looked as awesome as it did during the era it was built? I dig the smooth, modern lines of the current structure way more than Obletz's rendered remake.

Anyway, we shouldn't be building any more stadiums in the Rose Quarter to begin with, it's supposed to be planned for more retail and dense housing. A year-round indoor public sports facility could be a good use of the Memorial Coliseum though and an asset to the neighborhood. Though why scholarships and grants would be necessary isn't really clear. There's are free, public community centers in town...