Situated on the corner of Portsmouth with its easily recognized dome roof is the University of Portland’s 4,852 seat multi-purpose arena for athletics, tournaments, concerts, speakers, high school graduations and more — the Earle A. and Virginia H. Chiles Center.
Ground was broken in May 1983 and the new arena was completed and dedicated on October 20, 1984. The Chiles Center’s impressive specifications included a 60-foot high dome measuring 300 feet in diameter and locked in place by 30 buttresses. A “cloud” feature hidden in the ceiling above the arena floor is the main system to hold lighting, sound, and electronic scoreboard which can be dropped down in view when it’s needed. The arena also has theater type seating which can be rolled back to open the main floor for 20,000 feet of event space. On the upper level is a recreational running track with a cushioned surface.
As home court for Pilot athletics contests – women’s volleyball, men and women’s basketball, indoor track and field – UP hosted the West Coast Conference men’s basketball tournament in the Chiles Center in 1997 and 2007. Starting with the 2023-24 season, the Portland Trail Blazers G League affiliate team, The Rip City Remix, use the Chiles Center for their home court.
As an event space, Chiles is the venue for a number of important University non-athletic events, celebrations, and functions from UP presidential inaugurations, commencement and baccalaureate ceremonies, book/reading fairs, Career fairs, and the Hawai’i Club Lu’au. The University also welcomes appearances by prominent speakers and entertainers, from H.H. the Dalai Lama, Bob Dylan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Jane Goodall.
Through forty years of multi-faceted activity, the Chiles Center continues to expand to meet the needs of athletes and teams at the current moment: including upgrades to the women’s locker room (2006); renovations of the weight room (2008); refreshing and refurbishing the ceiling scoreboard (2010); expansion of men’s locker room, expanded space for strength and conditioning, a new student-athlete study area, and additional administrative offices (2012 – Chiles Foundation financial gift); and additional short- and long-term building improvements (2023 – Chiles Foundation financial gift).
and President Reagan came to the Chiles Center in 1984….