FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Why does the Keller Auditorium need to be renovated or replaced?
The Keller Auditorium is seismically compromised and needs to be renovated or replaced for safety reasons. More details can be found in the Seismic Analysis Report released by the city of Portland in March 2020.
Why did PSU submit a proposal?
Last year, PSU was expressly invited by the city of Portland to submit a proposal in response to their Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI) to explore the potential of constructing a new performing arts facility at an alternative site in Portland.
We believe that our proposal provides a wealth of advantages for all of Oregon. Additionally, we are pursuing the opportunity because it will be a giant step forward for the arts community and downtown Portland, reviving the city’s reputation as an arts and culture destination for the next 100 years.
What are the benefits of building a new performance center on the PSU campus?
With its increasingly diverse student body, engaged faculty and deep connections to arts communities and creative industries, PSU can attract new partners and audiences to performances and create linkages to other cultural offerings on campus, across the auditorium district and the greater Metro area.
This project offers new and enhanced opportunities for educational programming at PSU in the performing arts and possibly hospitality industries. Our arts programs will naturally benefit as well from the use of the spaces and proximity to performing arts activity.
Our region benefits from a thriving urban access university in the heart of downtown Portland to educate our region’s diverse workforce as well as to anchor the central city and bolster revitalization.
This year PSU has launched an exciting initiative to better connect its urban campus with Portland’s downtown core and to transform its public spaces into vibrant, people-centered places. This placemaking initiative includes a national design competition. The opportunity to move Portland’s premier arts venue to campus could be an exciting evolution of this commitment.
How will this benefit the city of Portland?
PSU’s proposal will excite people about Portland’s future. The future of cities will no longer be an imbalanced bias towards office spaces but a balanced approach to multipurpose places where people can live, work, play and learn. PSU’s proposal combines a 3,000-seat auditorium, outdoor plaza, boutique hotel & conference center, restaurants, bars and educational facilities. The space development will be active 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. This is a vision for big impact, attracting big investment.
PSU is offering 4.25 acres of downtown arts and culture opportunity. A premier Portland arts venue should be large enough to accommodate big touring shows and include a stage that can be tuned for smaller-scale performances. PSU’s site provides the space and flexibility to do it all – with an ideal location in the downtown theater district.
Where will the new building be located?
Located in the downtown’s south auditorium blocks of the central business district, and only 6 blocks away from the current theater, the new building will be on PSU’s campus at the 4.25 acre parcel located at 310 Southwest Lincoln Street. The PSU community knows this site as the current location of the University Place Hotel & Conference Center.
What are the benefits of adding a hotel, conference center, restaurant and bars?
The relationship between educational space, a premier arts venue and a boutique hotel & conference center, creates a unique downtown destination and an environment of year-round activation. It will also attract investment contributing to the revitalization of downtown at a time when it is needed the most. Initial planning demonstrates the feasibility of a 150-room hotel, up to 20,000 square feet of banquet and conference space, a commercial kitchen and two or more restaurants and bars.
Will it be hard to travel to the new performing arts center?
The proposed site is highly accessible. The new performing arts center is served directly by MAX, multiple bus lines and I-405. There is ample existing parking within two blocks and plans call for a new 550 car below-grade parking garage on site. There are a significant number of additional parking locations within easy walking distance as well as streetcar and other public transportation stops.