The owner of the Portland Beavers, Merritt Paulson, is withdrawing his proposal to build a ballpark in the city's Lents neighborhood following community protests.
Paulson, the son of former us Treasury secretary Henry Paulson, had planned to have a new major league soccer team play in PGE Park in the next three years and move the Triple A Beavers baseball team to a new stadium in the Lents neighborhood in Southeast Portland. Hundreds of local residents opposed to the stadium turned out at a meeting on Thursday night.
City Commissioner Randy Leonard said he'll no longer support soccer and deny Paulson the votes he needs to bring a team to the city. In the past, he has said he would support a plan to bring major league soccer to Portland only if the Beavers baseball team stayed in the city. But this week, Paulson convinced him that he was in danger of losing the Major League Soccer franchise if the situation remained in the air.
Kboo’s Jack lewis spoke with Kathline jergins, a member of the friends of lents park
- KBOO