The plan to renovate and re-invent Lincoln High School is moving forward. Construction will begin next year and the kids there will soon enough be walking the halls of a beautiful new campus, complete with a six-story tower of classrooms, a new 1,700-seat gymnasium, a weight room, a dance room and a new track and football field.

It’s that last part that Portland State was interested in when the Portland Public Schools announced a few years ago that it needed to update the crowded and crumbling downtown campus.

The Vikings got squeezed out of their long-time home football stadium by the Timbers and Thorns, who attract droves of soccer fans. PSU coach Bruce Barnum’s college football program has been playing its home games in Hillsboro, an arrangement which fosters complications and costs.

For example, the program decided to stop having practice at Hillsboro Stadium on Fridays. The cost to send two buses out and back from campus on the day before the game was $2,000.

Portland State desperately needs a football stadium. A venue in the 8,000-seat range would be ideal. And so when it was announced that Lincoln High, just a few downtown blocks away, was re-building the campus, PSU athletic director Valerie Cleary sat up in her chair and started pitching a partnership.

One that has now hit a $65 million snag.

That’s what it would cost to expand the current 1,500-seat football stadium plan for Lincoln High vs. adding 6,500 additional seats, a press box, a couple of locker rooms and a training room. The administration at Portland State saw the investment needed and balked.

The university told the athletic department that the entire bill would have to be footed by private fundraising. So unless PSU finds a generous philanthropist or hires a president interested in supporting football that’s where this project stalls.

It’s a big ask with not enough time to launch a fundraising campaign. Even so, Portland Public Schools has left wiggle room in the planning of the project to allow PSU to join in progress should it come up with the funds by early 2020. Which is why Cleary is still holding out hope.

“It would be such a benefit to the entire community,” she said. “Can you imagine?”

I can, yes.

I see the state high school playoff games played there for generations. Also, a series of outdoor concerts that could become a revenue stream for public schools. And I see an opportunity for two giant public entities to partner in a public venue that could be beyond their wildest dreams in scale and location.

The high school gets additional classroom space, the greatest high school facility in the state, and a partner that could help drive up the price for stadium naming rights. The university gets a permanent football stadium that would save it from having to bus to home games.

It’s the stuff high school football in Texas would pull off without blinking. In fact, two years ago the Katy Independent School District built a $70.3 million stadium – the most expensive high school football stadium in its state. It sold the naming rights to the 20,000-seat venue for $2.5 million.

That feels like it belongs on another planet.

Both PSU and Lincoln High are located on prime downtown Portland real estate. If Portland State’s campus were deep in the suburbs, the construction costs and finding a footprint to build on would be significantly less expensive.

Hillsboro is great. Without it, PSU doesn’t have a home stadium. But as Barnum said recently, “Everyone knows we’d love to play closer to our campus.”

Which is only to say that PSU is now left in a situation where it must find a kind soul willing to make the entire $65 million donation to make that happen.

Nike? Adidas? Under Armor? Or maybe Columbia Sportswear? Precision Castparts? A healthcare giant such as OHSU, Legacy or Providence? How about Daimler Trucks North America? Or Lithia?

That’s a short list of some potential whale donors. I don’t know if any of those corporate giants would even want to partner with two public entities because there’s bound to be some red tape. Maybe the “track” part of the stadium project would make it more appealing to the footwear giants. Maybe an investment in young people appeals to the healthcare world. Or maybe the entity writing the check would just be doing it to inject a much-needed investment in the community they do business in.

Regardless, that’s where the Portland State football stadium plan now sits.

The cranes will come in soon. The work will begin at Lincoln High. And I’m happy for those kids who will trade leaky roofs and crowded classroom space for a state-of-the-art campus ready for Fall 2022.

I just wish there was a place for Portland State in the deal.