Future of Keller Auditorium, PSU Performing Arts Center challenged * Oregon ArtsWatch

"Portland officials released a Market Feasibility Study on Friday, Jan. 23, that declared the region cannot support two venues capable of hosting popular touring Broadway shows. That upends the proposal approved by the City Council in late 2024 calling for a new Broadway-capable performing arts center to be built at Portland State University before the Keller Auditorium is closed and remodeled to continue hosting such large show."

""To be clear, the findings of this study are not the City's ultimate proposal," said Donnie Oliveira, Deputy City Administrator for Community & Economic Development. "This market feasibility study is one piece of a larger package of information that Mayor Wilson and the City Councilors will have at their disposal when acting as the ultimate decision-makers about how the City will move forward with its large-scale performing arts ecosystem.""

"The so-called "two-venue" plan was intended to allow the popular Broadway shows to continue appearing in Portland before the Keller, which does not meet current earthquake standards, is closed for renovations that could take two or more years. Price tag for the new PSU center is currently estimated at $332.5 million, while the Keller renovations are estimated at $290 million."

Portland's Market Feasibility Study, prepared by Hunden Partners, concludes the region lacks sufficient demand to support two venues capable of hosting large touring Broadway productions. The previously approved two-venue plan—building a new Broadway-capable center at Portland State University while closing Keller Auditorium for seismic renovations—faces financial uncertainty. The PSU center is estimated at $332.5 million and Keller renovations at $290 million. Hunden found the two-venue proposal not financially viable and questioned whether Keller should be renovated at all, suggesting the new PSU center could better attract large audiences. City officials characterized the study as one informational component for future decisions.

Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News