Providence Park
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Providence Park (formerly Jeld-Wen Field; PGE Park; Civic Stadium; originally Multnomah Stadium; and from 1893 until the stadium was built, Multnomah Field) is an outdoor
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
venue located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
. It has existed in rudimentary form since 1893, and as a complete stadium since 1926. Providence Park is currently the oldest facility to be configured as a
soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi- ...
for use by a MLS team, and is one of the most historic grounds used by any United States professional soccer team. Two professional soccer teams, the
Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...
of MLS and Portland Thorns FC of NWSL, use the facility as their home pitch. The stadium has been host to several major United States soccer events including national team matches,
Soccer Bowl '77 Soccer Bowl '77 was the championship final of the 1977 NASL season. The New York Cosmos (who had dropped "New York" from their name in the off-season to simply "Cosmos") took on the Seattle Sounders. The match was played on August 28, 1977 at ...
, the
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
and
2003 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial championship of women's national soccer teams organized by FIFA. It was held in the United States from September 20 to October 12, 2003, at ...
s, the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the
2014 MLS All-Star Game The 2014 AT&T Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 19th annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game. It took place on August 6, 2014 at Providence Park, the home of MLS club Portland Timbers. The game was televised live on ESPN2 and UniMás in ...
, the 2015 NWSL Championship Game, and MLS Cup 2021. Providence Park has been the home of the Portland Timbers since 1975. The Portland-based
Multnomah Athletic Club The Multnomah Athletic Club is a private social and athletic club in Portland, Oregon, United States. Located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood, it was originally founded in 1891 as the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club. It has expanded to fill ...
was founded in 1891 and soon constructed the stadium for their amateur sports teams beginning in 1893. In 1926, the facility was expanded into a complete stadium, including the upper seating bowl and the wooden benches which can still be found in the park. In 1956, the stadium was renovated in earnest for the first time to reflect its growing usage in the community. In 1966 the City of Portland purchased the park and renamed it Civic Stadium. It was renovated in 2001 to accommodate the Timbers and the Portland Beavers, while the naming rights of the stadium were purchased by Portland General Electric and it was renamed PGE Park. In 2011, the park underwent renovations again, this time so it could accommodate the Portland Timbers MLS franchise and a year later the stadium name rights were sold, this time to Jeld-Wen (Jeld-Wen Field). In 2014, the name was changed again to Providence Park after Providence Health & Services bought the naming rights. A 2019 expansion raised the capacity to 25,218 and added a multi-level facade to the East End. The Portland Timbers have sold out every single game at Providence Park since moving to MLS in 2011, and the Thorns set a single-game National Women's Soccer League attendance record in August 2019 with a sell-out crowd of the same capacity. In 2019, both clubs ranked among the top ten in attendance among professional soccer teams (men's or women's) in the United States and Canada.


Description

Providence Park is an outdoor soccer stadium which houses the MLS
Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...
and NWSL
Portland Thorns The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the U ...
. The stadium is owned by the City of Portland, and is managed by Peregrine Sports, LLC, the entity that owns the Timbers and Thorns. The stadium sits on a rectangular block bounded by Southwest Morrison Street, Southwest 18th Avenue, the Multnomah Athletic Club building and Southwest Salmon Street, and Southwest 20th Avenue. The
Multnomah Athletic Club The Multnomah Athletic Club is a private social and athletic club in Portland, Oregon, United States. Located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood, it was originally founded in 1891 as the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club. It has expanded to fill ...
, an athletic club in downtown Portland which originally constructed the venue, stands next door; the windows of the north side of the club's building overlook the field. The Interstate 405 freeway in Portland is also known locally as the Stadium Freeway and travels near the stadium. In addition, the Providence Park MAX Light Rail station is across the street. The property slopes significantly downhill from the south end to the north end, with the result that the playing surface sits well below street level. The
elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...
at street level is approximately above
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...
.


History

Since 1893, the site had been home to Multnomah Field, which consisted of sports fields with various
grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap al ...
s. Before the MAC developed the site as an athletic field, it was a large Chinese vegetable garden, supplying produce to much of Portland. In 1912, the distinctive Multnomah Athletic Club, which currently borders the south end of the stadium, was constructed. The overarching stadium was completed in 1926 for $502,000, and named "Multnomah Civic Stadium" after the club. The site was used for college football (including seven Civil War games between the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...
and
Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...
), cricket matches and
greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tr ...
. Well into the 1960s, most significant football games hosted by Oregon and Oregon State were held at this site because of its capacity. Oregon played in 107 games at Multnomah/Civic Stadium between 1894 and 1970. The
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...
played all its road games against Oregon and Oregon State at Multnomah Field/Multnomah Stadium until 1966 (OSU) and 1967 (Oregon). The site also hosted the Portland Rose Festival. In 1956, the Portland Beavers moved to the stadium after their original field,
Vaughn Street Park Vaughn Street Park was a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Portland, Oregon. Opened in 1901, it lasted for over a half century and was torn down in 1956. Its primary tenant was the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast Lea ...
, was condemned. After two attempts for a new domed stadium in Delta Park were defeated by voters in 1964, the city looked to purchase what was already in existence. In 1966, the Multnomah Athletic Club sold the stadium for $2.1 million to the city of Portland, which renamed it "Civic Stadium". The city government rejected several proposed renovation plans, including construction of a 57,000-seat domed stadium, and adding a second deck supported by helium-filled balloons. Prior to the 2011 MLS season, the stadium was renamed "Jeld-Wen Field" from "PGE Park", in a partnership with Klamath Falls-based company Jeld-Wen. Jeld-Wen is a manufacturer of windows and doors, leading to the stadium's nickname, "The House of Pane." In 2014, the stadium was renamed "Providence Park" after a partnership with Providence Health & Services was announced. Kerry Tymchuk, executive director of the Oregon Historical Society, summarized the stadium's history: "Providence Park has been home to some of the most iconic moments in Oregon sports history. It also ranks with such classic venues as
Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago ...
and
Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...
as a stadium that has stood the test of time and that is uniquely part and parcel of the city in which it resides. ... Portland is a city that prides itself on its uniqueness. While many major cities have chosen to replace historic sports stadiums with modern domes or complexes, Portland has chosen to retain much of the original architecture and charm of one of architect A.E. Doyle's most beloved creations."


Renovations


1956

The first major renovation to Providence Park after its full construction in 1926 came in 1956, when the Portland Beavers moved to what was then called "Multnomah Stadium", from the dilapidated cross-town Vaughn Street Park. For the first time, permanent East End seating was constructed, as well as a large ticketed section in the southeast corner of the stadium. The East End seats were all constructed above an outfield wall, and box seats were built in the stadium for the first time. Along with the expansion came the demolition of the greyhound racing track, which was constructed in 1933.


1982

In November 1980, Portland voters passed a ballot measure that provided the city (who had owned the stadium since 1966) with a much-needed $9.5 million to improve the foundation, concourse and replace the roof. The money allowed the city to replace the aging roof, adding an extended roofline out of laminated Oregon timber. The new roof covered a much higher percentage of seats and included the construction of a new press box, which was finished by winter 1982.


2001

In November 2000, the Portland City Council authorized bonds to finance a renovation of then-Civic Stadium. A $38.5 million renovation took place in 2001, upgrading the seating and concourse area, and adding new
luxury suites The luxury box (or skybox) and club seating constitute the most exclusive class of seating in arenas and stadiums, and generate much higher revenues than regular seating. Club ticketholders often receive exclusive access to an indoor part of th ...
and club seats. The renovation improved the structural soundness of the facility by adding over 750 tons of steel, and introduced a new sound system. The renovation also included some retro-features, such as a manually operated
scoreboard A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...
. At that point, PGE bought the naming rights and it became "PGE Park". The 2001 renovation also removed the remaining seats along 18th Avenue and added in the first electronic video board in the park, modernizing the park for soccer and minor-league baseball.


2011

In July 2009, after attempts to both find a new home for an MLS franchise and identify a site for a new home for the Portland Beavers, the Portland City Council approved a $31 million renovation to make PGE Park ready for the 2011 Major League Soccer season, by reconfiguring the stadium primarily for soccer and football. The decision led to the departure of the Beavers. A presentation to the Portland Design Commission indicated that 5,000 seats would be added, bringing capacity to about 22,000, but with only about 18,000 available for use on a regular basis. The renovation met Major League Soccer standards, introduced a new playing surface, which shifted west and north, and added space on the east and south sides, with new seating areas and new amenities. The Lighthouse Impact 16 main video screen was designed by Anthony James Partners and features over of LED video. A Lighthouse B10 pitchside display runs the length of the East End and portions of the north and south ends and is over long. As the project was nearing completion, it was revealed to be $5 million over budget, making the total cost of the renovation $36 million. The agreement between the city and Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson meant that Paulson was responsible for any cost overruns larger than $1 million. The newly renovated stadium made its début on April 14, 2011, when Major League Soccer's Timbers defeated the Chicago Fire, 4–2. The announced attendance at Timbers games in 2011 was 18,627, a sell-out. A few thousand seats were added for two games late in the 2011 season. About 2,000 seats were opened up for the 2012 season, bringing capacity up to 20,438. Following the 2012 season in which the Timbers' average attendance was 20,438, during the 2012–13 off-season the Timbers widened the pitch for the 2013 season, adding on each side to achieve a width of . The team widened the pitch by another yard in 2014, for a total pitch size of .


2019

In April 2017, the Portland Timbers unveiled a US$85 million renovation plan which would add roughly 4,000 new seats to the East End. Timbers' President of Business Mike Golub stated that "We felt it was imperative to see how we could transform the stadium and add capacity to both meet the demand that we have for tickets and also position the club to be viable and competitive for years to come", referencing the Timbers' current season ticket waitlist of approximately 13,000. The renovation was privately funded and brought the stadium to a capacity of 25,218, which was the 4th-highest of any soccer-specific venue in MLS. The club partnered with Portland-based Allied Works Architecture to design the expansion, and began construction in late 2017, with the goal of having the renovated stadium ready in late May or early June of the 2019 MLS season. The expanded Providence Park opened for the first time on June 1, 2019, as the Timbers hosted LAFC, selling out the capacity of 25,218. Included in the $85 million renovation were the addition of three decks of new seats, two new video boards and a modern edge-to-edge roof, as well as updated LED lighting throughout the park. The lowest tier of the new addition is a premium seating section named Tanner Ridge, a reference to Tanner Creek under the stadium, and includes separate food and beverage options from the rest of the stadium. The renovated stand on the East End was the largest single seat expansion in Providence Park history. The vertically stacked stand resembles the Boca Juniors' stadium La Bombonera and was inspired by Shakespeare's
Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and ...
. The new stands also resemble an original, unrealized design from 1926 for the stadium that shows 2-story stands. White seats in the added upper decks spell out "SC USA", a reference to Portland's NASL-era nickname of "Soccer City USA." This added to existing seats in the east stand that spell out "PORTLAND". In 2019, Timbers and Thorns ownership were in discussions with Portland mayor Ted Wheeler about replacing the artificial turf at Providence Park with real grass. A real grass field could make Providence Park more attractive for hosting international soccer matches. As of 2021, Providence Park is the only soccer-specific stadium in MLS that doesn't use real grass.


Current tenants

The stadium is currently home to the
Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...
of MLS, which the stadium has hosted in all of the club's iterations since 1975, and the Portland Thorns FC of NWSL since 2013. Starting in 2022, the facility is also the home turf for the Oregon Onyx of the Western Ultimate League and the Portland Nitro of the American Ultimate Disc League.


Portland Timbers

The Portland Timbers hosted their first match at the stadium on May 2, 1975, against the Seattle Sounders. It was the first professional soccer match ever hosted at Providence Park. The club would get their first win just 5 days later on May 7, 1975, with Peter Withe scoring the first ever home Timbers goal in a 1–0 victory over
Toronto Metros-Croatia Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...
. The Timbers were immediately successful at the stadium, only losing once during 1975 and setting the Timbers home attendance record of 33,503 in the NASL semifinals against the St. Louis Stars on August 17, 1975. The team played at Providence Park (then called Civic Stadium) until 1982 before folding. However, they helped develop the soccer culture in Portland and the passionate fans at the park that still remain today. The Portland Timbers were reborn in 1985, continuing to play at Civic Stadium. The club used the stadium during their time in the Western Soccer Alliance and the
American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...
until 1990. A new Portland Timbers franchise was founded in 2001 and began to use the park again for its home games. The naming rights were sold to PGE and the stadium became known as PG&E Park. A $38.5 million renovation was completed to allow for a more comfortable soccer experience. Around this time, the Timbers established themselves as one of the best-drawing teams in the
A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
, averaging attendance above 5,000 in each of their four years of existence. As they moved to the USL, the club became more successful, going unbeaten at home in the 2007 regular season. In 2008, the club averaged 8,567 home fans, the second-highest in the
USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...
. In 2009, Portland was selected to become a
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...
franchise, and in the same year the Timbers went unbeaten for a USL-record 24 matches in a row. In 2011, the stadium was renovated to provide Portland with a premier location to watch the Timbers play in Major League Soccer as well as fit the standards required by the league. The $36 million renovation modernized the stadium, added a high-tech video board and added new seating and amenities. The park was renamed Jeld-Wen Field after Klamath Falls-based windows and doors company Jeld-Wen purchased the naming rights. The stadium officially opened for Major League Soccer play on April 14, 2011, when the Timbers defeated the Chicago Fire, 4–2, before a sellout crowd of 18,627. This was the first time top-level American soccer had been played in the city of Portland since August 22, 1982. Jeld-Wen Field was the site of the first Timbers playoff home game in their MLS history, defeating arch-rival Seattle 3–2 on November 2, 2013. This allowed the Timbers to win 5–3 on aggregate and clinch the two-game series, advancing to the
Conference Finals Conference Finals may refer to: * NBA Conference Finals, National Basketball Association * NHL Conference Finals, National Hockey League * KHL Conference Finals The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and We ...
. In 2014, the stadium was renamed Providence Park after Providence Health & Services bought the naming rights. Home victories over the
Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...
and
FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...
in the
2015 MLS Cup Playoffs The 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs (officially the Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th post-season tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. The tournament began on October 28 with D.C. United defeating ...
provided a launch pad to the Timbers winning the 2015 MLS Cup. In 2018, Portland hosted two rounds of playoffs at Providence Park, rewarding the home support with crucial results as the Timbers defeated Seattle and
Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...
to advance to the MLS Cup Final. The Timbers defeated Minnesota United FC and
Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...
in the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs, which helped the Timbers advance to and host the 2021 MLS Cup Final, the first time Providence hosted the MLS championship game. After the completion of the 2019 renovation, capacity at the park increased to 25,218. The Timbers played their first game at the park on July 1, 2019, against LAFC, selling out the expanded sections. The Timbers have sold out every home game to date since their transition to MLS in 2011. Providence Park has been consistently cited as one of the best American soccer stadiums and as one of the best places to see Major League Soccer. MLS writer Charles Boehm described Timbers games at Providence Park "one of North American soccer's greatest spectacles" in 2019.


Portland Thorns FC

The Thorns played their first season in the
National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federati ...
in 2013, playing in Providence Park. The team's first home match on April 21 provided the club its first victory, a 2–1 win over Seattle Reign FC. In addition to setting a new league record for attendance, the opening day crowd of 16,479 was bigger than any single-game attendance from Women's Professional Soccer, the last women's national league before the NWSL. Portland won the NWSL Championship in 2013 and 2017, using home victories in the playoffs to propel them to the titles. Providence Park also hosted the 2015 NWSL Championship Game, where
FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champion ...
defeated Seattle Reign FC, 1–0, to win the championship. It also hosted the 2021 NWSL Championship, where Portland also won the championship against
NJ/NY Gotham FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2 ...
6–5 on penalties, with both teams scoring 1–1 in regulation. The Thorns have had the highest average attendance in the league in each of their first seven seasons, and set a league attendance record of 25,218 at an August 11, 2019 match against the North Carolina Courage.


Former tenants

In 1933, pari-mutuel betting was legalized in Oregon, and by May 23 of that year the Multnomah Kennel Club hosted its first greyhound race on the stadium's new track. The Kennel Club maintained its headquarters at the stadium until 1956, when the track was removed. The Portland Beavers minor league baseball team of the
Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Ba ...
(PCL) had played some games at Multnomah Field during 1905 when their
Vaughn Street Park Vaughn Street Park was a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Portland, Oregon. Opened in 1901, it lasted for over a half century and was torn down in 1956. Its primary tenant was the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast Lea ...
was temporarily reconfigured to host a track and field event. They moved into Multnomah Stadium in 1956 after over a half century at Vaughn Street, a wooden
ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...
which was soon demolished. The sod from the field at Vaughn Street was transferred to the new venue; Civic Stadium installed artificial turf in 1969. From 1973 to 1977 the
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...
Portland Mavericks The Portland Mavericks are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league created in 2021. The entire league, including the Mavericks, will play their games at V ...
of the Northwest League played their home games at the stadium. Actor
Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (1963–1964). In the late 1960s, he signed a ten-year contract with The ...
was an
infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...
for the Mavericks. The Beavers returned to Portland in 1978 until 1993 when they were moved out of the city again. The Class A Portland Rockies were established in 1995 and played at the park until 2000 when they were moved and renamed the Tri-City Dust Devils. In 2001, the Albuquerque Dukes were moved to Portland and renamed the "Beavers" marking the third time the franchise would occupy the park for their home games. As a baseball venue, the stadium had an unorthodox south-southeast alignment, with home plate in the northwest corner (20th and Morrison) of the property. After it was announced that
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...
was moving a franchise to Providence Park (then known as PGE Park) the Beavers had to start looking for a new stadium. However, the plan never came to fruition and team owner
Merritt Paulson Henry Merritt Paulson III (born 1972/1973) is an American businessman who is the minority owner of Peregrine Sports, LLC, which owns the operating rights to the Portland Timbers, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team, and the Portland Thorns FC, a Nati ...
put the Beavers up for sale. The club's major-league parent, the San Diego Padres, purchased the team, which moved to
Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
as the Tucson Padres. The team played its final game at the stadium on September 6, 2010. The stadium hosted the USFL's Portland Breakers, as well as the Portland Storm and Portland Thunder of the WFL. Soccer has been hosted at Providence Park since the original Portland Timbers were founded in the original
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league ba ...
in 1975. Various iterations of the team have called the stadium home, including the 1980s version in the Western Soccer Alliance and the 2000s version in the
USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...
before the MLS club was formed. From 2008 to 2017, Providence Park was used as home for the Timbers U23s of the
USL2 USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league s ...
, a development platform for the club. Following the 2017 season, the Portland U23s moved to Salem, OR. During the last few months of the 2020 MLS season, Providence Park hosted home matches for Vancouver Whitecaps FC after COVID-19 cross-border restrictions imposed by the Canadian government prevented the team from playing matches in Canada.


Events


Soccer

On August 28, 1977, the stadium was site of the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league ba ...
Soccer Bowl '77 Soccer Bowl '77 was the championship final of the 1977 NASL season. The New York Cosmos (who had dropped "New York" from their name in the off-season to simply "Cosmos") took on the Seattle Sounders. The match was played on August 28, 1977 at ...
between the New York Cosmos and the Seattle Sounders, the last official game of the legendary
Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA ...
. The Cosmos won the championship. On September 7, 1997, the stadium hosted a World Cup soccer qualifying match between the United States men's national team and
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
. A raucous capacity crowd of 27,396 saw the U.S. squad win, 1–0, on a goal by Tab Ramos in the 79th minute. A loud and knowledgeable stadium fully cheering on the USMNT in Portland created an atmosphere that "took years for any other American city to match". Providence Park has hosted the United States men's national team on 4 different occasions. Outside of tournament play in the 1998 World Cup qualifying and the 2013 Gold Cup, the stadium has hosted two friendlies: on April 4, 1985, against Canada (a 1–1 draw), and on May 28, 1998, against Kuwait (a 2–0 win). The stadium was the site of four group matches in the 1999 Women's World Cup. The stadium also hosted two group matches, two quarterfinals, and both semifinals in the 2003 Women's World Cup. Providence Park hosted the
2014 MLS All-Star Game The 2014 AT&T Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 19th annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game. It took place on August 6, 2014 at Providence Park, the home of MLS club Portland Timbers. The game was televised live on ESPN2 and UniMás in ...
. Following the conclusion of the game, an incident between Caleb Porter, the manager of the
Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...
and the MLS All-Stars, and
Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the ...
, the manager of Bayern Munich, drew headlines. Guardiola refused to shake hands with Porter following the match and the two exchanged words, with Guardiola walking off the pitch angrily. On December 11, 2021, Providence Park hosted the
2021 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2021 was the 26th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS) at the conclusion of the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs. The soccer match was played on December 11, 2021, at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, Unit ...
after the Timbers won the Western Conference Final over Real Salt Lake and are the highest seed remaining. The stadium saw a total attendance of 25,218 spectators.


College football

Known as Multnomah Stadium at the time, the venue was formally dedicated on Oct. 9, 1926, as the University of Washington's football team beat the University of Oregon, 23–9, with more than 24,000 fans in attendance. The Providence Park all-time college football attendance record was set on October 18, 1930 as 35,266 fans watched the Oregon Ducks defeat their rival the Washington Huskies by a score of 7–0. On 7 different occasions the Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry game was held at Providence Park, with the last time being in 1952, where the Beavers beat the Ducks 22-19. Both Oregon and Oregon State regularly played games, especially against nearby Washington, at Providence Park up until the 1960s and 1970s. At the time, the stadium could hold or draw more fans than the schools' home fields, so it was a logical space for high-stakes games. The Ducks last played in Providence on September 12, 1970, defeating the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, University of Califor ...
31-24. The Beavers played in Portland all the way up until 1986, with their last game until 2022 being a 49-0 blowout loss to #15
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...
on November 1, 1986. Providence Park, then known as Civic Stadium, was home to many generations of high-octane offense from the Portland State Vikings, including from 1975 to 1980 when Mouse Davis, the "godfather" of the run and shoot offense and Portland State Football Hall of Famer, was the head coach of PSU. While coaching at Civic, he led the PSU football program to a 42–24 record over six seasons while averaging 38 points and nearly 500 yards of offense per game. PSU led the nation in scoring three times. The unique passing game made stars out of Davis' two main quarterbacks, June Jones and
Neil Lomax Neil Vincent Lomax (born February 17, 1959) is a former American football quarterback who played his entire professional career for the St. Louis / Phoenix Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Portland S ...
. In 1975, Jones threw for a Division II record 3,518 yards. Davis' next quarterback, Lomax, set NCAA records of 13,220 yards and 106 touchdowns in 42 games. Under Davis' direction, Portland State set 20 NCAA Division II offensive records in addition to the Vikings being named the NCAA's all-time point producers in 1980, scoring 541 points in 11 games for 49.2 points per game, along with 434.9 yards passing and 504.3 yards of total offense per game. During a November 9, 1980 game, Lomax threw for seven first-quarter touchdowns against Delaware State, which the Vikings won 105–0. On October 27, 2007, the stadium hosted the highest-scoring game in modern
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...
history, when the Weber State University Wildcats defeated the PSU Vikings, 73–68, a combined point total of 141 points. This point total eclipsed the previous NCAA record of 136 points, set in a 1968 Division III game, and the previous Division I record of 133 points, set in 2004. While this record lasted only two weeks, and has been surpassed four times in all, it remained the highest-scoring game involving
NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...
teams until 2018, when Texas A&M defeated LSU in a 74–72 seven-overtime game. Coincidentally, Mouse Davis was the offensive coordinator for Portland State at the time, returning to Providence Park under the head coaching of Jerry Glanville. Oregon State played FCS
Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 field ...
in Providence Park on September 17, 2022, due to OSU's
Reser Stadium Reser Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. It is the home of the Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12 Conference, and opened in 1953 as Parker Stad ...
being under construction. It was the first game in the stadium hosted by an FBS team since the Beavers last did it in 1986. The Beavers won the game 68–28.


Baseball

Given that the stadium's primary purposes originally were track and field, football, and dog racing, it had somewhat odd dimensions for baseball. Due to the curving northern stands, foul territory along the third base line was much larger than that along the first. During the 1970s, the Jantzen swim wear company had a 3D model of the Jantzen girl attached to the left field wall in its baseball configuration. The Jantzen girl was in play because it was below the top of the wall and it was hit a couple of times over the years. The Jantzen girl was removed from the outfield wall during renovations and is now on display in the concourse under the west stands. On May 27, 1991, the stadium received national attention when Vancouver Canadians outfielder Rodney McCray, while attempting to catch a fly ball, crashed through a wooden advertisement behind the warning track in right-center field; a real-life version of an incident in the fictional book and film, ''
The Natural ''The Natural'' is a 1952 novel about baseball by Bernard Malamud, and is his debut novel. The story follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked after being shot by a woman whose motivation remains mysterious. The story mo ...
''. While McCray failed to make the out, he only suffered scrapes and bruises and remained in the game. Highlight reels of that play ran for weeks on cable channels such as CNN and
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. On August 12, 2006, the Beavers commemorated the event with a Rodney McCray Bobblehead Night, passing out
bobblehead A bobblehead, also known by common silly nicknames such as nodder, wobbler, or wacky wobbler, is a type of small collectible action figure. Its head is often oversized compared to its body. Instead of a solid connection, its head is connected to ...
s of McCray to fans and renaming right-center field "McCray Alley". In the mid-1990s the stadium was planned to be the home of the yet-to-be named Portland team, a charter franchise of the United League (UL) which was planned to be a third league of
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
(MLB). On July 15, 2009, the stadium hosted the
Triple-A All-Star Game The Triple-A All-Star Game was an annual baseball game held from 1988 to 2019 between professional players from the affiliated Triple-A leagues of Minor League Baseball. These leagues were the International League (IL) and Pacific Coast League ...
, with the
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...
stars defeating the Pacific Coast league, 6–5. The game was attended by 16,637 fans, the largest crowd for a Triple-A All-Star game since 1991, and the third largest at the time. Portland's
Chad Huffman Chad Daniel Huffman (born April 29, 1985) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals, and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NP ...
won the Home Run Derby.


Concerts

While on a four-day tour of the Pacific Northwest, September 2, 1957,
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...
performed in one of the first three outdoor stadium rock concerts in music history. Presley had held the second ever in Vancouver, BC, Canada just a few days earlier, on September 1, 1957, at Empire Stadium, his first being at the Cotton Bowl, in Dallas, TX, on 11 October 1956. The concert created mass hysteria and an estimated 14,600 people attended the concert. In a November 8, 2013 interview with the Portland Business Journal, Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson expressed his desire to host summer concerts at the stadium.


Art and design

Providence Park's outside walls are covered with naturally-grown ivy. The entrance billboard used to announce dates and future games is a deliberate retro replica of the old scoreboard that used to be in the same location. Multiple art installations and sculptures line the outside plazas of Providence Park. Those include '' Facing the Crowd'', a series of two bronze sculptures, and ''You Are Here'', an artistic rendition of a 12-foot wide log ring with historical artifacts of Portland's past embedded inside.


In popular culture

In 2010, Providence Park was a filming location of Season 2 of the television series '' Leverage''. The episode depicts a fictional Massachusetts (where the series was set) minor league team also known as the Beavers. The IFC show ''
Portlandia ''Portlandia'' is an American sketch comedy television series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, set in and around Portland, Oregon, and spoofing the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. The show was produced by Br ...
'' references Providence Park multiple times throughout the series and the lead characters Peter ( Fred Armisen) and Nance (
Carrie Brownstein Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney. During a long hiatu ...
) attend a Timbers match in a 2012 episode, bringing along a home-made sign to root for the club. Providence Park was added to the stadium rotation in the FIFA video game series for the first time in September 2020, beginning with
FIFA 21 ''FIFA 21'' is an association football simulation video game published by Electronic Arts as part of the '' FIFA series''. It is the 28th installment in the ''FIFA'' series, and was released on 9 October 2020 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Swit ...
. Providence became the sixth Major League Soccer stadium added to the game, and the addition allowed for the access of all three Cascadia clubs' home stadiums for the first time.


Feral cat colony

Since approximately 1985, the field has been home to a
feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...
colony, which may have been at the park before the current stadium opened in 1926. There are an estimated 12–19 cats in the colony, referred to as "living rat traps". After a construction worker killed a feral cat in 2000, the park enlisted the
Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from Domestication, domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems an ...
to assist the animals during construction efforts and to run a trap-neuter-return program. The cats are discussed in
Chuck Palahniuk Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk (; born February 21, 1962) is an American freelance journalist and novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adu ...
's travelogue of Portland, '' Fugitives and Refugees''.


Gallery

File:Civic Stadium, 1974.JPG, An aerial view of the stadium in 1974 File:PGEParkpano (cropped).jpg, PGE Park, 2008 File:Providence Park March 2015 (16573948949).jpg, Interior view, 2015 File:Providence Park.jpg, left, The stadium in 2016 File:Portland, Oregon (August 15, 2022) - 059.jpg, Gate D entrance, 2022


See also

* List of sports venues in Portland, Oregon * Architecture of Portland, Oregon * List of Major League Soccer stadiums *
Soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi- ...
*
Portland Beavers Ballpark Portland Beavers Ballpark was a description of a new stadium in Portland, Oregon, or in an outlying city that was being planned for the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League of Minor League Baseball. The ballpark idea was abandoned in Oc ...
, a proposed stadium in 2010 *
Vaughn Street Park Vaughn Street Park was a baseball park in the northwest United States, located in Portland, Oregon. Opened in 1901, it lasted for over a half century and was torn down in 1956. Its primary tenant was the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast Lea ...
, a now-demolished baseball park


References


External links

*
Providence Park
at StadiumDB.com
Portland State Athletic Facilities

Jeld-Wen Field Virtual Venue



Sanborn map showing Multnomah Athletic Club, 1901

The Nitro, Portland’s professional ultimate frisbee team, plays its first game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Providence Park 1926 establishments in Oregon A. E. Doyle buildings College football venues Defunct minor league baseball venues Event venues established in 1926 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup stadiums 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup stadiums Goose Hollow, Portland, Oregon Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design basic silver certified buildings Major League Soccer stadiums USL Championship stadiums National Women's Soccer League stadiums North American Soccer League (1968–1984) stadiums Oregon Ducks football venues Oregon State Beavers football venues Portland Beavers Portland Pilots football Portland State Vikings football Portland Timbers Providence Health & Services Soccer venues in Oregon Sports venues in Portland, Oregon United States Football League venues World Football League venues CONCACAF Gold Cup stadiums Portland Breakers stadiums Sports venues completed in 1926