Portland Winterhawks
Arena Name: Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Capacity: 12,888
Built: 1960
Address: 300 N. Winning Way, Portland, OR 97227
Telephone: (503) 238-6366
Ice Surface Size: Regulation
Franchise Date: 1976-77
WHL Championships: 3, in 1982-83, 1997-98 & 2012-13
Memorial Cup Championships: 2, in 1982-83 & 1997-98
Colours: Red, White, Silver & Black
Official Web Site: Winterhawks.com
Former Arena: Rose Garden
Veterans Memorial Coliseum
What's the Arena Like?
Yet to Visit
Hockey arenas don't exactly get a lot of respect from architecture critics. While they are often the largest indoor public building in any city, their architecture tends to be utilitarian, and for the most part, they aren't the kind of buildings that get glowing reviews in architectural journals.
Portland's Veterans Memorial Coliseum is one of the rare arenas that bucks that trend. Built in 1960, the arena was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and is an icon of the International Style of architecture, to the point it was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Whereas arenas up to the Coliseum tended to be dark inside, the Coliseum made use of natural light in a way that no arena before, and few after, were ever able to. The building essentially is a glass box; four non-load bearing glass walls built around an open-topped indoor stadium surrounding the ice, so that on the inside, natural light makes it into the bowl on all four sides.
While I personally have never been (to the Coliseum, or to Portland for that matter), it's probably first on my list of remaining arenas that I'm looking forward to seeing, and I'm ever so grateful that the Winterhawks committed to the Coliseum long-term in the fall of 2021. The building was upgraded in 2012, and should remain open for years to come.
Future Developments
There are no plans to renovate or replace Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Franchise History
The Portland Winterhawks' history dated back to 1950 as the original Edmonton Oil Kings. The team won the Memorial Cup twice in the sixties under the leadership of Bill Hunter, playing at Edmonton Gardens and Jasper Place. They moved to Portland in 1976, playing consistently at the Coliseum, but also building-sharing at the Rose Garden with the NBA's Trail Blazers between 1995 and 2020.
Retired Numbers
21 Cam Neely
Feedback
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Last Revised: December 14, 2021