Supporters pack Portland City Hall to fight Lloyd Center redevelopment plan

PORTLAND, Ore. (CN) — Ice skaters, business owners, neighborhood advocates and mall walkers flocked to Portland City Hall Wednesday, arguing the aging Lloyd Center remains one of the city’s most important community gathering spaces.

More than 150 people signed up to testify as Portland city councilors heard dual appeals challenging approval of a master plan that would pave the way for the redevelopment of the shopping center.

The city’s Design Commission unanimously approved a voluntary Central City Master Plan for the 27-acre Lloyd Center site in March. The plan, proposed by owner Urban Renaissance Group, envisions replacing much of the mall with a mixed-use neighborhood featuring housing, retail, open space and a new street network.

But the Save Lloyd Ice Coalition and Save Lloyd Campaign argue the proposal fails to adequately consider the mall’s role as a community hub and say it does not comply with city policies encouraging preservation, adaptive reuse and distinctive neighborhood character.

Before testimony began, dozens of supporters rallied outside City Hall wearing “Save Lloyd” shirts and carrying signs opposing demolition.

Many speakers focused on the mall’s Lloyd Center Ice Rink, made famous as the formative training grounds for famed figure skater Tonya Harding. The rink is one of the few year-round skating facilities in the Portland area.

Lydia Finch, a figure skating coach and academy director, said the rink provides opportunities unavailable elsewhere in the region.

“As the only Black figure skating coach in Portland, I worked to make this sport welcoming and accessible,” Finch told councilors. “Once it is gone, we cannot build another community like this overnight.”

Young skaters and their parents repeatedly described the rink as an inclusive space that serves people across age groups, incomes and abilities.

Georgia Krugel, a 12-year-old skater, called the rink her second home.

“The developers say that they surveyed the community,” Krugel said. “However, nobody ever asked our skating community.”

Others argued demolition would undermine the city’s climate goals by discarding a usable structure.

Matt Kelly, a volunteer organizer with Save Lloyd, told councilors the master plan assumes demolition without adequately considering adaptive reuse. He argued the mall’s existing structure represents a significant investment of embodied carbon and questioned whether tearing it down aligns with Portland’s sustainability objectives.

“The master plan states that none of the existing buildings are planned to remain because they’re aging,” Kelly said. “These conditions are not proof that adaptation is impossible.”

Several speakers described Lloyd Center as one of the city’s few remaining “third places.” Testimony highlighted uses ranging from skating and mall walking to making friends, hosting community events and taking refuge during extreme weather.

Noah Le Compte, a 24-year-old Portland resident with autism, has such a deep love for Lloyd Center that he wrote a book documenting the mall’s history.

Le Compte told councilors the mall should be recognized as a historic landmark and argued its loss would erase an important piece of Portland history. He noted that the facility has long accommodated people with disabilities, including wheelchair users, on the ice rink.

After the hearing, Le Compte’s mother, Jennifer Meyer, said her son became deeply invested in preserving the mall after learning it could be demolished. She said he spent months researching Lloyd Center’s history and writing a book that combines photographs, historical information, memories and his personal love for the singer Rihanna.

According to Meyer, the project grew from Le Compte’s longtime attachment to the mall, where he has skated and spent holidays since childhood.

“He did it completely by himself,” Meyer said of the book.

The book traces different eras of the mall and details notable events like jazz legend Louis Armstrong’s 1965 performances. Meyer said Le Compte’s attention to detail helped him document changes to the mall over decades, from former stores and food court features to architectural aspects, like light fixtures, that have since been remodeled.

Supporters of redevelopment, meanwhile, argue Lloyd Center’s future cannot be separated from its economic realities.

In a recent opinion piece submitted to the council record, Urban Renaissance Group Managing Director Tom Kilbane said the mall is nearly 90% vacant and financially unsustainable.

He urged councilors to uphold the Design Commission’s decision, arguing the redevelopment would create thousands of housing units, new parks and public spaces, and a 4,000-seat music venue already under construction in the former Nordstrom building.

Council members did not issue a decision Wednesday. The hearing is expected to continue further into the week as additional speakers, both for and against the plan, wait to provide testimony.

The council’s eventual ruling will determine whether the master plan moves forward, but for many speakers, the fight was about more than land-use regulations.

“Lloyd Center is more than an aging mall,” Keith Adamson of the Sullivan’s Gulch Neighborhood Association told councilors. “It is a civic space.”