PORTLAND, Ore. - The Portland City Council this week voted on whether to use about $60 million in public money to help bring Major League Soccer to Portland.

Commissioners approved the project, although they removed $15 million in urban renewal district funds from the plan and they'll have to figure out fairly quickly how to fill the gap.

Merritt Paulson, owner of the USL's Portland Timbers and the Beavers Triple-A baseball team, is vying to bring an MLS team to Portland. Four cities are bidding on two expansion teams to begin play in either 2011 or 2012.

If awarded the franchise, Paulson will pay $40 million for the team and contribute some $12 million toward construction costs. Other private funds also will be raised.

The MLS requires a soccer-specific stadium, meaning PGE Park will need renovations and the Beavers will need a new home. The city will issue bonds to help pay for the renovation and ballpark, which will be built on the site of Memorial Coliseum.

The Coliseum is a city-owned facility in the Rose Quarter, right next to the Rose Garden. And that's where the Blazers come into the deal.

J.E. Issac, the Blazers senior vice president for business affairs, testified at the City Council meeting to voice the team's opposition to the part of the plan that makes the Blazers neighbor to the Beavers.

The Trail Blazers want to develop the area around the Rose Garden to include shops, restaurants and night clubs. The team is concerned that building a Triple-A ballpark on the site would scuttle those plans for a so-called "Live District."

Mayor Sam Adams and Commissioner Randy Leonard expressed surprise at the Blazers' stance, and said that the team had earlier presented conceptual drawings of the development of the site that had included a ballpark.

"If it is at the expense of the Live District, it is a mistake," Issac said.
     
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