The Peter W. Stott Center, home of Portland State’s Athletics Department and the Vikings basketball and volleyball teams, is on the verge of getting a massive physical and aesthetic overhaul. And with the overhaul comes a new name: Viking Pavilion.
Recently unveiled by PSU, the $44 million renovation would not only upgrade the athletic facilities but also create much needed academic space. The proposed plans include a nearly 6,000-seat capacity arena—75 percent more seating than the current capacity—which would not only be used for athletic events but would also be used for concerts, lectures and other performances.
The plan has drawn criticism and questioning from outlets around PSU and the Portland community, as concern has been raised over the significant price attached to the plan. However, PSU Athletic Director Torre Chisholm explained that the renovation would be a no-lose situation, at least financially.
“The money is coming from a combination of fundraising, deferred maintenance and revenue bonds. Tuition is not paying for this; in fact, no student money is paying for this, and neither is any money that would have gone somewhere else,” Chisholm said. “The Stott Center is going on 50 years old. It’s due for a significant investment in deferred maintenance. The money that is going to be spent is money that would have been spent anyway. We’re going to supplement that money with revenue bonds and revenue that will be generated from the new center,” he added.
PSU representatives from various outlets around campus have backed Chisholm and his department on the plan, echoing his belief that it will prove beneficial to the university and to PSU students.
“Students will benefit in numerous ways from the Pavilion. Athletics are a significant part of the college experience and help make for a more vibrant campus. They also provide a significant number of scholarships to students. Also, we need more classroom space on the PSU campus, and almost 75 percent of this renovation will be dedicated to academic space,” said PSU Director of Communications Scott Gallagher.
“Torre has been in the planning sessions with campus senior leadership for this project. This is his area of expertise,” said Barbara Dearing, PSU associate athletics director for Business Operations.
Although the design renderings for the new Viking Pavilion are still in the early stages of development, Chisholm hopes to break ground on the project by 2014. “It’s part renovation, part new project. The idea is to take out the small gym, open it up, and make that an entryway. The racquetball courts could be built into an academic center. The idea is to have it be tied into the rest of campus more effectively,” Chisholm said.
Chisholm said the renovation would upgrade PSU’s overall athletic facilities and encourage students to attend games more frequently. “We currently have four tennis courts used for physical education and recreation, as well as intramural teams. They’re not big enough to host matches; we have to use an alternate site for those. The most logical site for hosting matches is the current courts. That’d give us an improved asset on campus,” he said.
The new center would be more than an athletic arena, according to Chisholm. The plan is to section off much of the space for general student use and additional classroom space.
“With the lobby ways and concourses, we’d try to furnish them and make them available for general student use, including computer terminals. We’d try to make a sort of complement to the library. We’re trying to expand the student and lounge space available, to give space for student events and other kinds of non-sports events,” Chisholm said.
Despite being a prominent university in the heart of a major city, PSU is often unable to host major events due to the lack of a larger-capacity venue, according to Chisholm. The renovation would remedy that. “Last presidential election, all of the candidates contacted PSU first when looking for a speaking site, but we had no venue. We want to give PSU students access to those kinds of events. Our plan is to have 120 events per year. Roughly 35 of them would be PSU athleticevents, and the other 85 would be things like concerts, trade shows, amateur events, student events, banquets, etc.,” he said.
“When I was at [University of California,] Irvine, we had Green Day, Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson and others all play at our university before they made it big. Bands want to get out to college campuses. This’d be a great way to give students access to these bands,” Chisholm said.
“Really what we’re building is a multi-purpose events center. We see this as a civic facility, an academic facility, a cultural facility and also an athletic facility,” he added.