Portland's debate over the future of its largest performing arts venue is heading toward an August City Council vote, and the Keller Auditorium's most vocal supporters have changed their ask.

The Halprin Landscape Conservancy and the Downtown Neighborhood Association are no longer pushing for a $250 million two-block entertainment hub around the Keller. Instead, they want the city to spend $10 million to $15 million over five years on incremental upgrades to the existing building.

"The Keller is not broken," conservancy Executive Director Karen Whitman wrote in a June 12 letter to Mayor Keith Wilson and the City Council.

"Instead of an expensive and uncertain two-theater vision, the city should invest $10 million-$15 million over five years into the Keller for practical, incremental improvements."

The strategic retreat comes as City Council prepares to vote in August on a rival proposal: a new 3,000-seat auditorium on Southwest Lincoln Street at the south end of the Portland State University campus.

That project carries an estimated price tag of $332 million to $449 million for the theater alone. The full PSU complex, which would include a parking structure, secondary theater, and classrooms, could cost roughly $857 million.

Two separate advisory bodies submitted recommendations to the city on June 30. Both the Steering Committee for the Future of Large-Scale Performing Arts and Mayor Wilson's Ex-Officio Table endorsed the same phased approach: build the PSU venue first, keep the Keller open during construction, then address the Keller's long-term future.

The Steering Committee cited the risk of "catastrophic economic and employment impacts" from a multi-year Keller shutdown. The Ex-Officio Table recommended keeping the Keller running until the PSU complex opens, then shrinking it from 3,000 seats to 1,200–1,800. The NW Examiner reported the Ex-Officio Table's timeline targets approximately 2030 for the PSU complex's completion.

A market feasibility study by Chicago-based Hunden Partners, completed in December 2025, found Portland lacks demand for two Broadway-capable venues and recommended against renovating the Keller for that purpose.

The city's June 30 news release said a full report would go to Council in July. It is unclear whether that presentation has taken place.

Neither side has identified how to pay for its preferred option. The city has no confirmed funding plan for the PSU complex or for the Keller upgrades.

Diana Stuart, a Downtown Neighborhood Association representative, put it bluntly: "The city can't afford a half-billion-dollar project."

The Keller is Portland's most heavily attended city-run venue and the only space that can host Broadway touring shows. Portland'5 Centers for the Arts, the city's performing arts umbrella that includes the Keller, draws about 800,000 patrons and generates $90 million in annual spending downtown, according to city figures released in January 2026. Metro, which has managed Portland'5 since 1989, will hand control back to the city on July 1, 2027.

The Steering Committee recommended the council act in August on the PSU proposal. No specific meeting date has been set.

Residents can track the council's agenda and sign up for public comment at portland.gov/council.