Providence Park

Providence Park is a famous soccer stadium in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. It is home to the Portland Timbers, a team in Major League Soccer, and the Portland Thorns FC, a team in the National Women's Soccer League. The stadium is the oldest one built just for soccer that is used by a Major League Soccer team in the United States.

The stadium has been used since 1893, and it became a full stadium in 1926. Many important soccer events have taken place there, including matches of the U.S. national team, the 1999 and 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, and the 2021 MLS Cup.

Over the years, the stadium has had several names. It was first called Multnomah Stadium and later Civic Stadium. In 2001, it was renamed PGE Park. In 2011, it became Jeld-Wen Field, and in 2014, it got its current name, Providence Park. In 2019, the stadium was expanded to hold 25,218 people. Since 2011, the Portland Timbers have sold out every home game, and the Portland Thorns have also attracted very large crowds.

Description

Providence Park is an outdoor soccer stadium. It is home to the MLS Portland Timbers and NWSL Portland Thorns. The City of Portland owns the stadium, and Timbers owner Peregrine Sports, LLC manages it.

The stadium is on a rectangular block. It is bordered by Southwest Morrison Street, Southwest 18th Avenue, the Multnomah Athletic Club, and Southwest Salmon and Southwest 20th Streets. The Interstate 405 freeway runs nearby, and the Providence Park MAX Light Rail station is just across the street. The stadium slopes downhill from south to north, with the playing field below street level. The elevation at street level is about 110 feet (35 meters) above sea level.

History

Since 1893, this place was called Multnomah Field. It had open sports areas and seating stands. Before it became a stadium, the area was a big garden growing vegetables for Portland. In 1912, a special building for athletes called the Multnomah Athletic Club was built nearby. The stadium itself was finished in 1926 for $502,000 and named “Multnomah Civic Stadium” after that club.

People used the site for college football games, cricket, and races with dogs. Through the 1960s, it was where Oregon and Oregon State teams played many of their important games. After 1956, a baseball team called the Portland Beavers started using the stadium. In 2014, it was renamed “Providence Park” after a health care company partnered with the team.

Kerry Tymchuk, from the Oregon Historical Society, says Providence Park has been part of many important sports moments in Oregon. He compares it to famous old stadiums like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park.

Renovations

1956

The first big change to the stadium happened in 1956 when the Portland Beavers team moved there. They added new seating areas on the East End and built box seats for the first time. They also removed the old dog racing track.

1982

In 1980, people in Portland voted to give the city $9.5 million to improve the stadium. They replaced the old roof, added a new press area, and made other upgrades by winter 1982.

2001

In 2001, the city spent $38.5 million to update the stadium. They added new luxury seats, improved the structure with extra steel, and put in a new sound system. They also added a manual scoreboard and a big video screen. The stadium was renamed “PGE Park” at this time.

2011

In 2011, the stadium was changed to work better for soccer. They added new seats, a big video screen, and improved the field. The stadium opened for soccer on April 14, 2011, when the Timbers played against the Chicago Fire.

2019

In 2019, the Timbers added about 4,000 new seats to the East End. This made the stadium hold 25,218 people, one of the biggest in soccer. They also added new video screens, a modern roof, and special lighting. The new seats spell out “SC USA” and “PORTLAND” when viewed from above.

Current tenants

The stadium is home to the Portland Timbers of MLS and the Portland Thorns FC of NWSL.

The Portland Timbers played their first match at the stadium on May 2, 1975, against the Seattle Sounders. The team has played many games there since then. After a break, the Timbers returned in 1985 and later joined Major League Soccer in 2011. The stadium was renamed Providence Park in 2014.

The Thorns started playing at Providence Park in 2013. They have had many successful seasons there, winning championships in 2013 and 2017. The stadium has also hosted other important games for the Thorns.

Former tenants

Greyhound racing started at the stadium in 1933 and ended in 1956.

The Portland Beavers, a minor league baseball team, played there from 1956 until 2010. After that, many other teams used the stadium for games.

Soccer has been played at Providence Park since 1975, when the original Portland Timbers team began. The stadium has been home to many Timbers teams over the years.

In 2020, the stadium was used by Vancouver Whitecaps FC because of travel rules.

Events

Soccer

On August 28, 1977, the stadium hosted the Soccer Bowl '77 between the New York Cosmos and the Seattle Sounders. The Cosmos won the championship.

On September 7, 1997, the stadium hosted a World Cup soccer qualifying match between the United States men's national team and Costa Rica. The U.S. team won, 1–0.

Providence Park has hosted the United States men's national team four times. The stadium has also hosted two friendly matches.

The stadium was the site of four group matches in the 1999 Women's World Cup. It also hosted two group matches, two quarterfinals, and both semifinals in the 2003 Women's World Cup.

Providence Park hosted the 2014 MLS All-Star Game.

On December 11, 2021, Providence Park hosted the 2021 MLS Cup after the Timbers won the Western Conference Final. The stadium had 25,218 spectators.

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup

2003 FIFA Women's World Cup

Football

Known as Multnomah Stadium at the time, the venue opened on Oct. 9, 1926, when the University of Washington beat the University of Oregon.

The Providence Park all-time college football attendance record was set on October 18, 1930, when 35,266 fans watched the Oregon Ducks defeat Washington Huskies.

The Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry game was held at Providence Park seven times, with the last time being in 1952.

Both Oregon and Oregon State played games at Providence Park regularly until the 1960s and 1970s.

Providence Park was home to Portland State Vikings football, including from 1975 to 1980 when Mouse Davis was the head coach. During this time, Portland State set many offensive records.

During a November 9, 1980 game, Lomax threw for seven touchdowns in the first quarter against Delaware State.

On June 25, 1992, Civic Stadium hosted a Canadian Football League exhibition game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders.

On October 27, 2007, the stadium hosted the highest-scoring game in modern NCAA football history.

Oregon State played Montana State in Providence Park on September 17, 2022, because OSU's Reser Stadium was under construction. The Beavers won the game.

Baseball

The stadium had unusual dimensions for baseball. The northern stands made the area along the third base line larger.

Dimensions changed over the years. When it first opened for the Beavers in 1956, the left field foul line was 305 feet.

During the 1970s, the Jantzen swim wear company had a model of the Jantzen girl attached to the left field wall.

On May 27, 1991, the stadium received national attention when Vancouver Canadians outfielder Rodney McCray crashed through a wooden advertisement behind the warning track in right-center field. McCray was not seriously hurt and stayed in the game.

On July 15, 2009, the stadium hosted the Triple-A All-Star Game.

Concerts

While on a tour of the Pacific Northwest, September 2, 1957, Elvis Presley performed in one of the first three outdoor stadium rock concerts in music history. The concert created mass hysteria and about 14,600 people attended.

In a November 8, 2013 interview, Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson said he wanted to host summer concerts at the stadium.

Art and design

The outside walls of Providence Park are covered with ivy that grows naturally. The entrance billboard that shows game dates and times is a copy of an old scoreboard that used to be there.

There are many art pieces and sculptures around the outside areas of Providence Park. These include Facing the Crowd, which is two bronze sculptures, and You Are Here, a big circle made of wood that has important items from Portland's history inside it.

In popular culture

In 2010, Providence Park was used for an episode of the TV show Leverage. The episode showed a pretend minor league team called the Beavers.

The comedy show Portlandia talked about Providence Park a lot. In a 2012 episode, the main characters, Peter (Fred Armisen) and Nance (Carrie Brownstein), went to watch a Timbers soccer game and brought a homemade sign.

In September 2020, Providence Park was added to the FIFA video game series starting with FIFA 21. This made it the sixth Major League Soccer stadium in the game. Later, in FIFA 23, the Portland Thorns joined too, so Providence Park became one of four women's soccer stadiums in the game.

Feral cat colony

Since about 1985, the field has had a group of wild cats. These cats may have been there even before the stadium was built in 1926. There are about 12 to 19 cats in this group, sometimes called "living rat traps." After a construction worker hurt a wild cat in 2000, the park asked the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon to help the cats during building work and to run a special program to care for them. The cats are mentioned in a book by Chuck Palahniuk about Portland.