Portland mayor calls MLS 'smart investment'

• The Oregonian, Saturday, January 23, 2010 7:30 AM

The city of Portland and Merritt Paulson, owner of the 2011 MLS expansion team in Portland, have reached a proposed final agreement to reconfigure PGE Park and turn it into a soccer stadium. The agreement is expected to be approved by the Portland City Council next week.

Paulson and his father, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, guarantee completion of the project if his company, Peregrine LLC, cannot complete the reconstruction. Among the last-minute details agreed upon: a sports-medicine clinic at the stadium will be open to the public and will accept Medicaid, Medicare and Oregon Health Plan patients, and a freestanding foundation will be constructed to withstand damage if an aging sewer line underneath the stadium fails.
 
"This agreement will serve Portlanders now and for years to come," Mayor Sam Adams said. "We will put construction workers back to work right away, and in the long term, MLS represents a smart investment in Portland's future success."

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