Moda Center
Moda Center, formerly known as the Rose Garden, is the primary indoor sports arena in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is used for basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions. The arena has a capacity of 19,393 spectators when configured for basketball.[2] It is equipped with state-of-the-art acoustics and other amenities.[8]
Full name
Moda Center at the Rose Quarter
Rose Garden (1995–2013)
1 North Center Court Street
Rip City Management
Basketball:
19,393 (2015–present)[1]
19,441 (2014–2015)[2]
19,980 (1999–2014)
21,538 (1996–1999)
21,401 (1995–1996)
Ice hockey / Lacrosse: 18,280
Center stage: approx. 20,500
End stage: approx. 15,000
"Theatre of the Clouds": approx. 6,500
July 12, 1993[3]
October 12, 1995
Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Inc.[5]
KPFF Consulting Engineers[6]
The arena is owned by Vulcan Inc., a holding company owned by the estate of Paul Allen. The primary tenant is the Portland Trail Blazers NBA franchise, also owned by Allen's estate. The other major tenant of the building was the major junior hockey franchise Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League, which used to split its schedule with the Memorial Coliseum next door. In addition to the Blazers and Winterhawks, several other professional sports franchises, and the Portland State University men's basketball team, either currently play home games in Moda Center, or have done so in the past. In addition, Moda Center is a popular venue for concerts and other artistic productions.[9]
Construction began in 1993, and the arena opened on October 12, 1995. The arena cost US$262 million to build; construction was financed with funds obtained by a variety of sources, including the City of Portland, Allen's personal fortune, and $155 million in bonds issued by a consortium of mutual funds and insurance companies.[10] These bonds would become the subject of an acrimonious 2004 bankruptcy in which the Oregon Arena Corporation, the holding company which owned the arena at the time, would forfeit title to the arena in lieu of repaying the bonds per the payment terms.[11] Allen would later repurchase the arena from the creditors in 2007.[12]
Ownership and management[edit]
Moda Center is currently owned by Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, a holding company owned by the Estate of Paul Allen which manages Allen's various sports-related properties. Management and operation of Moda Center, along with other Rose Quarter facilities, is contracted out to Global Spectrum,[30] Global Spectrum employs more than 75 full-time and 700 part-time employees at Moda Center.[31] Mike Scanlon is the current general manager of the arena. Global Spectrum was first hired by arena creditors to operate the facility after Allen lost possession of the arena in a bankruptcy proceeding; Allen has subsequently repurchased the arena from creditors.[32] Prior to the bankruptcy, Oregon Arena Corporation operated the arena directly; Global Spectrum has been widely praised for increasing the financial performance of the facility.[9]