Tell Mayor Wilson and City Council
SAVE PORTLAND’S KELLER AUDITORIUM

SUPPORT THE AFFORDABLE FIX –
Reject the billion-dollar bet

Aug 31, 2026

Viewpoint: City proposal to build new Broadway theater at PSU is a bad idea

Aug 11, 2024

The Keller carries decades of tradition, existing support facilities such as parking lots, a lower projected cost and a more central location architecturally tied to the city’s signature fountain.

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I urge you to vote NO on the resolution to move forward with a new city-owned Broadway theater at Portland State University.

A YES vote is not a harmless planning vote. It gives the City of Portland’s endorsement to an expensive project with no credible funding plan and puts city staff, resources and political capital behind advancing it.

The proposed PSU complex and a smaller, renovated Keller would cost nearly $1 billion. Yet the resolution fails to acknowledge that price tag, identify how taxpayers would pay for it, demonstrate the market need for more theater capacity, or guarantee that the Keller will ever actually be renovated.

Worse, PSU is already seeking $44 million from the city by December 1 to unlock state bonds for a project that still does not have the money needed to build it.

City Council should not manufacture political momentum for a project and figure out whether Portland can afford it later.

Nor should the city abandon what already works. The Keller is profitable, draws roughly 400,000 people downtown each year and helps support Portland’s other public theaters. Meanwhile, this proposal would dramatically increase theater capacity at a time when Portland already struggles to fill the venues it has.

If you vote YES, you own the consequences of moving this plan forward.

There is a responsible alternative. Vote NO and support the Keller Affordable Fix, a five-year, $15 million plan to address deferred maintenance, protect a profitable city asset and keep Broadway audiences downtown.
Portland does not need another billion-dollar promise without a plan to pay for it.

Please vote NO.

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Tell Mayor Wilson and City CouncilSAVE PORTLAND’S KELLER AUDITORIUM

SUPPORT THE AFFORDABLE FIX –Reject the billion-dollar bet

Viewpoint: City proposal to build new Broadway theater at PSU is a bad idea

The Keller carries decades of tradition, existing support facilities such as parking lots, a lower projected cost and a more central location architecturally tied to the city’s signature fountain.

Add Your Name to the Grassroots Petition

Learn more about the renovation plans at ournextkeller.org

Tell Mayor Wilson and City Council
SAVE PORTLAND’S KELLER AUDITORIUM

SUPPORT THE AFFORDABLE FIX –
Reject the billion-dollar bet