Jordan Schnitzer
Schnitzer is president of Schnitzer Properties, a commercial real estate investment and development company. His family foundations have contributed over $300 million to arts, culture, health, education and other community efforts. He lives in Portland.
I am proud that the Schnitzer name is aligned with the arts in Portland and beyond. For many years, arts and culture have been important family values. I learned from my parents – and particularly from my mother, Arlene Director Schnitzer – to always be an advocate for the arts as part of a well-rounded education and as a vital part of civic life.
Downtown Portland has had its share of issues. It is clear to me that a thriving future for downtown relies on a diverse mix of arts and culture destinations to bring energy and opportunity back to our central city.
When it comes to the future of Portland’s premier performing arts venue, it is time to think bigger than replacing or renovating the Keller Auditorium, which is aging and seismically unsound. It is time to expand our view of what downtown Portland could become. It is time for city leaders to select Portland State University’s proposal to build a new world-class, multi-use facility that would take the performing arts in our city to a new level.
The PSU site, located at the University Place Hotel on Southwest Lincoln Street, is four times larger than the Keller, so there’s room for everything our arts community needs and audiences want — now and into the future.
The PSU proposal includes a conference center, a hotel, classrooms and community spaces. Most importantly, the 3,000-seat auditorium planned for the site would serve the bigger shows of the future, while a second 1,200-seat second auditorium would benefit regional arts organizations. Portland has long needed a theater exactly the size of the second auditorium. The PSU team behind the proposed arts center knows that because they have talked to hundreds of arts leaders and citizens.
Arts organizations have said loudly and clearly that closing the Keller for an extended period would be like enduring a second pandemic closure. They would lose artists, staff, donors, dollars and downtown Portland would lose a key ingredient for vitality. A report commissioned by Metro, which manages the Keller and other venues, calculated that closing the Keller would cost our community $140 million in lost economic impact and around 340 lost jobs.
Choosing the PSU proposal means Keller performances could continue without interruption until the new venue a few blocks south opens in 2031. Broadway shows and beloved traditions will continue for Oregon families and visitors. Arts organizations will remain intact. Workers will keep their jobs and downtown businesses won’t lose out.
In addition, PSU’s plan is exciting because of what it could mean for students of all ages and artists across our community. It would bolster the city’s arts reputation, seed new arts organizations and inspire and train the artists and stagecraft professionals of the future.
It is true that a 100-year investment in the performing arts will be expensive. Only Portland State brings a diverse set of funding sources to the $448 million 3,000-seat venue, as well as the potential for state bonds for the educational facilities. The opportunity for an arts organization to co-locate at the site adds to its attractiveness.
If you add up all those funding pluses — and subtract the millions in economic losses that a two-year Keller closure would cause — then the choice is clear. The PSU proposal is best.
Our city must make bold moves to regain its global reputation. The time to act is right now.
Many ask: What will happen to the Keller? The answer is: something amazing. We have years to figure out what’s next and how to redevelop it into a new jewel in Portland’s crown.
This important decision by the Portland City Council would unlock decades of excitement and potential for downtown Portland and be a hundred-year arts and culture legacy for our region.
Let’s get this done.
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