City Council says it can't save historic Lloyd Center Mall in Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) — Portland City Council members say it’s not in their power to save the city’s beloved Lloyd Center Mall.

At the end of a two-hour meeting on Wednesday, the council tentatively voted 10-0 to uphold approval of a redesign plan, ending appeals by groups like the Save Lloyd Ice Coalition and the Save Lloyd Campaign.

In June, council members heard two days of passionate testimony from ice skaters, community members and other activists seeking to preserve the historic mall and its rink. But on Wednesday, they said that even if they approved last-ditch appeals, saving the mall was beyond the scope of their powers at this point.

“There’s no decision by which we can force the preservation of this mall,” Councilor Mitch Green said, summarizing what seemed to be the council’s consensus. The council will return to the subject on July 29 for a final vote.

The Lloyd Center Mall opened in 1960. Its ribbon-cutting featured a live performance by Ella Fitzgerald. At the time, the 1.2 million-square-foot building was one of the biggest malls in the world.

Now, the mall is closing. Under the city’s Lloyd Center Central City Master Plan, it will be replaced with mixed-use development.

Christe White, an attorney for design firm ZGF Architects, said on Wednesday that even if city council approved appeals to that plan, demolition of the mall had already been greenlit and would go forward. The Lloyd Center’s last day in operation will be on Aug. 8.

Wednesday’s two-hour meeting once again brought public testimony. Many Portlanders love the mall’s historic ice rink, describing it as an important community gathering space and calling for its preservation.

Tensions ran high throughout the meeting. Council President Jamie Dunphy repeatedly reminded attendees that audible reactions like applause, booing and hissing were not permitted.

Dunphy said he shared residents’ attachment to Lloyd Center. He recalled his own teenage years spent there. Still, after concluding that appeals could not save the mall, he opted not to support them. Instead, he suggested exploring whether other sites, including the nearby Veterans Memorial Coliseum, could serve as a future public skating rink.

Other council members offered similar ideas. Councilor Sameer Kanal spent much of the hearing inquiring whether the city could legally require yearround community gathering spaces or a replacement skating rink as conditions of approval.

Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney similarly questioned whether the Lloyd Center redesign adequately satisfied planning policies encouraging public gathering spaces. She suggested the council should consider requiring some form of yearround public space.

As the teardown and redesign of Lloyd Center Mall has prompted anger and sadness across the city, several council members criticized the city’s public engagement process. They said legal notice requirements about the mall’s redesign had fallen short of goals for meaningful community involvement.

“If we are going to say we take people’s concerns seriously,” Councilor Pirtle-Guiney said, “we need to actually give that opportunity.”

In the end, though, public outcry was not enough to save Lloyd Center Mall on Wednesday. The July 8 vote was simply about the redesign plan, and widespread affection for the mall was not enough to override legal rules or halt demolition, Councilor Dan Ryan said.

“The two primary concerns I’ve heard are preserving an ice rink and objections to the demolition,” Ryan said. “Neither of these items are applicable to the city’s master plan criteria and scope.”

Before the 10-0 vote, Councilor Loretta Smith addressed those who had spent weeks urging the city to save the mall.

“I hear you, and I’ve heard you,” Smith said.

“No, you don’t!” an audience member yelled before storming out. “Shame! Shame on all of you!”