Civic Stadium

The left-field gate at what is now PGE Park, Aug-2004.

A new press box and luxury boxes were installed for 2001.

The Multnomah Athletic Club overlooks the field.

• Location: Morrison Avenue at SW 18 Street, Portland, Ore.
• Opened: 1926 as Multnomah Stadium (1956 for baseball) (last renovated 2001)
• Additional names: Portland Civic Stadium (1956); PGE Park (2001)
• Home team: Portland Beavers, Pacific Coast League (2001-present); many prior teams in the PCL and Northwest League, 1956-2000
• Capacity: 26,912 (1985); 19,810 (2001)

Rating: 2 baseballs

The park is now known as PGE Park, with the utility Portland General Electric lending its name to help finance the renovations that led to the Albuquerque Dukes moving here for the 2001 season.

The original exterior remains, as do the upper-level seats. The roof was replaced, as were the lower-level seats, and new luxury boxes now take up the entire upper level behind the plate with the exception of the press box. The park also features a new, completely manual scoreboard, with sliding panels revealing the number of balls, strikes, and outs. According to site visitor Roger Carpenter, these panels are changed at the scoreboard by an operator using a cable-and-pulley system. This is unique; most parks with manual scoreboards use lighted bull’s-eyes or (as at Wrigley Field) another electromechanical system.

Unfortunately, the park also features artificial turf. A surface that appeared to be NexTurf (I didn’t find out for sure) supports not only the Beavers, but several high school baseball and football games, Portland State football, and the Portland Timbers, an A-League soccer team.