PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The effort to bring Major League Baseball to Portland hit a major milestone on Monday.
Major stakeholders with the Portland Diamond Project and the Oregon AFL-CIO officials held a press conference at the AFL-CIO’s union hall in Portland to announce a labor harmony agreement Monday afternoon.
Craig Cheek, founder of the Portland Diamond Project, spoke alongside Tom Chamberlain, president of Oregon AFL-CIO, about how the agreement would “generate economic opportunities for Portlanders.”
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler agreed with calling the labor agreement a major step forward in the saga of bringing an MLB team to the city.
“With the Portland Diamond Project working hand-in-hand with our labor community to advance this historic agreement, the region will see the economic benefits created by a new ballpark shared across our community,” Wheeler said Monday. “This agreement is a significant milestone on our path to bringing a Major League Baseball team to Portland. The energy behind this movement continues to grow each day.”
Cheek also touched on the continuing efforts to bring big league baseball to the Rose City.
“If you’re following Major League Baseball, you can see there’s still quite a bit of chaos with teams like Tampa, Oakland and others — and potential teams up for sale — so we actually think we’re positioned beautifully to have a follow up meeting with the commissioner,” Cheek said.
He added they hope to have that meeting “probably in the next 30-45 days to see if that roadmap can crystallize around timing.”
The Portland Diamond Project and the city are still evaluating the challenges and opportunities at the stadium site at Terminal 2. The goal continues to be to have a stadium and a team ready for Opening Day 2022.