Providence Park

Providence Park is a famous soccer stadium in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. It is the home of 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 set up 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 that is home to the MLS Portland Timbers and NWSL Portland Thorns. The stadium is owned by the City of Portland and managed by Timbers owner Peregrine Sports, LLC.

The stadium is located on a rectangular block bordered by Southwest Morrison Street, Southwest 18th Avenue, the Multnomah Athletic Club, and Southwest Salmon and Southwest 20th Streets. The Interstate 405 freeway, also called the Stadium Freeway, runs nearby, and the Providence Park MAX Light Rail station is just across the street. The stadium slopes downhill from the south to the north, with the playing field sitting 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, with 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 currently home to the Portland Timbers of MLS and the Portland Thorns FC of NWSL.

The Portland Timbers hosted their first match at the stadium on May 2, 1975, against the Seattle Sounders. The team has played many exciting 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 began 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

In 1933, greyhound racing began at the stadium, and it continued there until 1956.

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

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

During the 2020 season, the stadium was used by Vancouver Whitecaps FC because of travel rules related to health guidelines.

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. squad won, 1–0.

Providence Park has hosted the United States men's national team on 4 different occasions. Outside of tournament play, the stadium has hosted two friendly matches.

The stadium was the site of four group matches in the 1999 Women's World Cup. The stadium 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 and were the highest seed remaining. The stadium saw a total attendance of 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 was formally dedicated on Oct. 9, 1926, as the University of Washington beat the University of Oregon.

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

On 7 different occasions the Oregon–Oregon State football rivalry game was held at Providence Park, with the last time being in 1952.

Both Oregon and Oregon State regularly played games at Providence Park up 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, due to OSU's Reser Stadium being under construction. The Beavers won the game.

Baseball

The stadium had unusual dimensions for baseball. Due to the curving northern stands, foul territory along the third base line was much larger than that along the first.

Dimensions varied over the years somewhat. When 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 only suffered scrapes and bruises and remained 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. Presley had held the second ever just a few days earlier, on September 1, 1957, at Empire Stadium, his first being at the Cotton Bowl, in Dallas, TX, on 11 October 1956. The concert created mass hysteria and an estimated 14,600 people attended the concert.

In a November 8, 2013 interview, Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson expressed his desire to host summer concerts at the stadium.

Art and design

Providence Park's outside walls are covered with naturally-grown ivy. The entrance billboard used to announce dates and future games is a deliberate retro replica of the old scoreboard that used to be in the same location.

Multiple art installations and sculptures line the outside plazas of Providence Park. These include Facing the Crowd, a series of two bronze sculptures, and You Are Here, an artistic rendition of a 12-foot wide log ring with historical artifacts of Portland's past embedded inside.

In popular culture

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

The comedy show Portlandia mentioned Providence Park many times. 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 to cheer for the team.

In September 2020, Providence Park was included in 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 around 1985, the field has been home to a group of wild cats. These cats might 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.