Designed by the architectural firm Ellerbe Becket, Kansas City, the total enclosed area of the Rose Garden is over 785,000 SF on eight primary levels. Five levels are open to the public during events. The general public will use two major concourses, the 100 Level (Main Concourse), and the 300 Level (Upper Concourse), along with a portion of the Event Level. Sandwiched between the 100 and 300 Levels are the 200 Level (Preferred), and the Suite Level.
The Rose Garden is a flexible, multi-purpose facility hosting a variety of events including NBA and college basketball, professional hockey, indoor soccer, indoor track & field, gymnastics, major concerts, monster truck rallies, rodeo and bull riding, circuses, ice shows, boxing, "professional" wrestling, and convention and trade shows. Total capacity for NBA Basketball will be over 21,300.
Patrons of the two major concourses and the Event Level public spaces will be served by 19 concession stands comprising the following nine themes: The Blaze: Flame Broiled Burgers, The Flying Wok: Anti Gravity Asian Cuisine, Houndogs: Viva Las Hot Dogs, Bridgetown Cantina and Truck Stop, Rosies Frying Circus, Meschugenah Mamas: New York Style Deli, I Scream: So Good Its Scary, Arena Roma: Italian Food Worth Fighting For, and Havanas: Cigars, Wines, Espresso. Coined "Food TV," menus at these stands will be displayed on video monitors via laser disc players located in a centralized Event Level computer room.
Over 650 televisions are used within the Rose Garden's concourses, restaurants, clubs, suites, and network of back-of-house areas.
Thirty-two public restrooms on four arena levels make the Rose Garden among the most "bladder friendly" facility of its kind in the world. In response to demand, the total number of women's water closets will out number those allocated to men by nearly three to one.
Located on the 200 Level is the Rotunda Sports Bar, the Rose Room (executive banquet facility), a lounge with a buffet-style restaurant, a concession stand, a grill, and three outdoor terraces (two smoking and one non-smoking).
Seventy luxury suites wrap an entire arena level, midway between the lower and upper seating tiers. Each suite has a capacity of 22 persons and includes a wet bar, catered food service, a restroom and changing area, three televisions (two 31" monitors behind the wet bar and a 10" monitor in the restroom), and a stereo system.
Located in the depths of the Rose Garden's Event Level, the Command Center is the "eyes, ears, and brain" of the Rose Quarter. This high-tech room controls Rose Quarter and Commons lighting and sound systems, monitors security for the Rose Quarter and Rose Garden, monitors and assists in Rose Quarter traffic control, monitors and controls Rose Garden building/engineering systems, and monitors and controls the Rose Garden fire alarm system.
Image of the Rose Garden
By Strode Ekert Photography
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Image of the Rose Garden
By Strode Ekert Photography
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The highest point of the Rose Garden's 210,000 square foot roof is 140 feet above the ice-floor slab at the Event Level. The bottom chords of the roof trusses are 107 feet above the ice-floor slab. Within the roof structure is a network of catwalks totaling 3,100 lineal feet. Span of the primary trusses at the widest point is 343 feet.
Suspended above the event floor is a feature found in no other multi-functional arena in the world: the Acoustical Cloud. Comprising eight rows of 20 panels for a total of 160 panels, the Cloud will allow for customized acoustical treatments of the arena interior to correspond with the specific event or show-type requirements. Each rotating 10 foot by 10 foot square panel has a hard and a soft side. For an event where many loud reverberations are desired, such as a basketball game, the hard panel surface would face downward toward the event action and crowd, reflecting noise back to its source. During events where acoustical control and overall sound quality must be at a premium, such as a concert, the soft panel surface would face downward absorbing extraneous sound.
The Rose Garden is primarily a concrete-framed structure with a skeletal-steel roof. The material composition of the building is as follows:
* 44,928 cubic yards of cast-in-place concrete
* 3,480 cubic yards of structural precast concrete
* 5,518 tons of reinforcing steel
* 79,000 pounds of post-tensioning cable
* 4,200 tons of structural steel (moment frame and roof structure)
* 63,000 connection bolts at the structural steel.
The Garden's non-structural exterior finishes are as follows:
* 29,088 square feet of exterior glass
* 17,500 square feet of plaster soffit
* 52,142 square feet of architectural precast (concrete aggregate)
* 39,000 square feet of EIFS (External Finish Insulation System)
* 13,645 square feet of steel louvers.
The Garden's structural and non-structural interior finishes are as follows:
* 1,600,000 square feet of gypsum board
* 750,000 square feet of finished gypsum board
* 340,000 square feet of thermal insulation
* 100,000 square feet of acoustical ceiling panels
* 88,500 square feet of concrete masonry walls.
Directions to the Rose Garden
(From the Portland International Airport) Take Airport Way to Hwy 205 South. Exit 1-84 West, proceed to I-5 North and take the Broadway-Weidler/Rose Quarter exit. Take a left at the second traffic light onto Broadway. Follow Rose Quarter sign to the Rose Garden.
Source: The Rose Quarter
THE ULTIMATE SPORTS ROAD TRIP
By: Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell
| Rose Garden Arena Ranking by USRT |
| Architecture |  | 8 |
| Concessions | | 5 |
| Scoreboard | | 8 |
| Ushers | | 6 |
| Fan Support | | 8 |
| Location | | 5 |
| Banners/History | | 8 |
| Entertainment | | 6.5 |
| Concourses/Fan Comfort | | 8 |
| Bonus: NBA TV | | 3 |
| Bonus: Radio Studio | | 3 |
| Total Score |  | 68.5 |
April 1, 2001 - From the midst of the Rose Quarter near the banks of the Willamette River opposite of downtown Portland, the Rose Garden in person appears to be just attractive in person as its name would suggest. Opened in 1995 to replace the undersized and outdated Memorial
Coliseum, the Rose Garden is one of the finer new buildings in sports and deservedly so
for the people in Portland who rank amongst the NBA's most rabid and loyal fans in the
game.
Outside the Arena
The Rose Garden is the main component of the Rose Quarter complex which consists of
the Rose Garden at one end, and its predecessor Memorial Coliseum at the other end.
Sitting right in the center of this complex, between the Coliseum and the Garden is One
Center Court, a shopping and entertainment complex that houses a brewery, an Italian
restaurant, the Blazers team store, and the ticket offices for both arenas.
Several parking ramps abut the arena, including one built right into the building similar to
the configuration at our own HSBC Arena. A short block away is a light rail rapid transit
station.
In the area separating the Garden from the rest of the complex there is a large and
attractive public plaza, complete with benches and tables, where people can hang out
before and after games. Near the main entrance there is a fountain area with two columns
in the middle, each one with a flame atop of it.
The Concourses
Like other new arenas this building has wide concourses for anyone to navigate through
with their soda and that special Blazer souvenir. Just about everything else we saw was
truly extraordinary here. To start, the color scheme in this building was amongst the best
we have seen everywhere. With red and black and white everywhere make no mistake you
are at the home of the Blazers. All signage, floor tiles, accents, trim and even the escalator
stairs are done in team colors. No detail was spared. This had us wishing that our very own
HSBC Arena would have picked up on that.
The concourses also have their fair share of historical memorabilia. Along the walls one can
see the names and faces of persons in the Blazers Hall of Fame. Icons such Walton, Lucas
and Buffalo's still revered Dr. Jack Ramsay adorned the building. Not to mention the old
banners from Memorial Coliseum celebrating their magic moments and great players.
If during the course of the game you need to leave your seat, there is probably no better
place than here to follow the action from the concourses. At many spots in the concourses
you will see a fully functioning scoreboard that keeps tab of time and score, along with
several monitors with each one that not only show the action on the court but also NBA.com
TV along with other games in progress. There are three huge sculptures sponsored by
advertisers such as Panasonic and Coca-Cola, all with banks of TV monitors showing out of
town games.
Also, from the upper concourses one can walk outside onto balconies which offer differing
perspectives of Portland.
Concessions
Like many new places there is plenty to eat and drink here. Unlike any places we've seen,
here at the Rose Garden they use monitors to show the menu at most concession stands.
Those backlit concession menu panels are old style here in Portland.
Seating Area
This is a two level bowl with seats for over 20,000. Despite the size of the building, the bowl
still retains a sense of intimacy, unlike places such as the Molson Centre which are huge
and barnlike. Between the two levels is the suite level and the club level is at the upper
half of the lower sideline seats. There are also a few super suites atop the seating area in
one corner of the building which provides a nice, if not distant view of the action. Back
when this arena opened up in '95 it introduced a new trend in advertising in which there
would be simultaneous scrolling ad panels around the entire circumference of the bowl. It's
a design that has been copied by many other arenas and though the next wave of
technology is already making this passe, it still adds a nice touch.
If you are an information maniac and need to know every stat possible about the event on
the floor then this is the arena for you. High above the seating area there are not one but
several stat boards that keep track of every bit of info a fan may ever want. One at each
end keeps track of individual player (all of them, not just ones on the floor) stats for each
team. Another stat board (The Hustle Board) keeps track of both teams intangible stats
such as blocks, steals, and rebounds. Still another one(Sizzle/Fizzle) tracks positive and
negative stats i.e. made FT's, missed FT's. The information here is all concise,
non-confusing and well organized.
Retired Numbers/Banners
Due to all of the stat boards on the baselines the Blazers hang their banners from the
sidelines. At one sideline are the individual banners for Walton, Lucas, Petrie, Ramsay and
others along with the most recent addition Clyde Drexler. Above the other sideline are the
team banners for the division and conference championship banners along with the 1977
NBA Championship Banner. Definitely their shining moment of glory. This is a team that is
about to enter the playoffs for the 19th consecutive season so you can see that there is
plenty of tradition here.
Extra Points
The Blazers have their pre and post game radio show studio in the team store at One
Center Court. Peter had the chance to go on the air and say a few words about our odyssey.
Also of note, on the wall outside the Garden there is a plaque with all of the names of the
workers who built this magnificent arena...nice touch!!
Summary
Absolutely spectacular!!!! In a nutshell, probably the finest NBA arena outside of
Indianapolis. Both Andrew and Peter voted to add this arena to the top of our "five star
guide" list for our NBA venues. We would come back here anytime!
Acknowledgements
Special thanks go to KPAM Radio, including Andy Young Producer and Dwight Jaynes Host,
for having us on the Dwight Jaynes show on the previous Friday and for setting us up with
a pair of ducats for the game. Also a shout to the Blazer post game show, Mike Barrett,
Blazer Broadccaster, and David Barberis and Rich Patterson, Producers, for having us on
and for directing us to the East Bank Sports Bar & Saloon...nice choice.
