PHILADELPHIA TIME STANDING STILL

Philadelphia time passed by these stadiums and arenas in South Philly.

It’s a shot from the Seventies with Veteran’s Stadium, JFK Stadium, with The Spectrum in between.

The Phillies and Eagles played in The Vet, The 76ers in The Spectrum, with the annual Army v Navy game at JFK.

Not. Any. More.

Like Portland real estate wins, tearing down the Portland Hotel, tearing up South Portland, opening downtown to squatters and tents, Philadelphia tore up their big public houses.

What comes next here is up in the air, but Philadelphia rebounded.

Back in the day the Phillies were Larry Bowa, Mike Schmidt, and Greg Luzinski.

The Eagles were a couple of years away from Jaws, the 76ers were a year away from Doctor J.

I never saw the 76ers play in the Spectrum but I did see The Who, Elton John, The Eagles, Paul McCartney and Wings.

Next door at the Vet I saw the Eagles play the Roger Staubach led Cowboys.

One year I was the Army medic on duty for the big game at JFK.

It was a hopping big city and I lived just off Oregon Ave.

Of all places to land coming from Oregon.

Philadelphia Time Moved On, So Did I

Another shot, a postcard, showing the whole complex.

When I first saw it I thought the buildings were permanent, never going to change, and locked it away in my memory vault.

I figured two areas would never change there, the stadiums and the Philadelphia Museum of Art with the Rocky Steps.

When things look built for a lifetime, they ought to last?

Thinking of Athens and Rome for comparison.

London and Paris?

But then: Boom.

There goes The Vet.

Boom.

There goes the Spectrum.

JFK Stadium was a quieter end.

The Future Comes Right After The Past

The old stadiums meet the new stadiums.

The map doesn’t show much, but the land is familiar territory.

There’s Broad Street, which along with Market Street creates the center of Center City where they cross.

Burnside and the Willamette River do the same job in Portland, breaking the city down to NW, NE, SE, and SW.

The newer sites on Broad:

How many people will enter these stadiums, or drive by, thinking ‘this is forever.’

Me? Not so much.

What this post aims to show is redevelopment. Old and neglected is either updated or replaced.

What happened in Philadelphia could happen in Portland.

Imagine a city center based on where Memorial Coliseum and Moda Center stand.

Normally arenas like this never last this long. Most all arenas and stadiums are torn down within a few decades of their construction.

Yet like the Rose Bowl, Wrigley Field and a few other gems, Memorial Coliseum is transcendent.

Philadelphia swept their stadiums into the bins of history for a fresh start.

Portland could follow their lead, but do we need to look on the other side of the continent for ideas about stadiums and art museums?

Not with the capitol of the Northwest just up the road setting the pace.

This is Seattle, not Philadelphia.

Look familiar?

I know what you’re thinking: ‘Where do the Seattle Super Sonics play?’

They play in Oklahoma City.

Is it Philadelphia time in Portland?