Accessibility at the Portland Expo Center

We are Portland’s Gathering Place and with that in mind, we want to ensure that everyone who comes to the Portland Expo Center has a welcoming and inclusive experience. Our facility provides all reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities in order to assist them in attending events at our facility.

If you have any further questions or need additional assistance with ticketing, please call us at 503.736.5200 or email us at info@expocenter.org

Entrances
All of our buildings have accessible entrances, as well as an elevator located in Hall D that accesses the 2^nd floor meeting room and administrative offices.

Courtesy Wheelchairs
The Expo Center has five (5) complimentary manual wheelchairs available on a first-come-first-serve basis for our guests. Wheelchairs are located in our med-tech offices. Please speak with an Expo employee upon entry to the show to check-out a wheelchair.     

We strongly recommend that patrons who do not normally use a wheelchair bring a friend or companion to assist them in maneuvering the wheelchair around the facility.

Accessible Restrooms
All Expo Center buildings have public restrooms that are wheelchair accessible. All-user restrooms are located in the lobbies of Halls A, D & E.

Accessible Parking
The Portland Expo Center has ample accessible parking for vehicles bearing a valid Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) disability parking placard. Each building has dedicated accessible parking close to building entrances. Parking is $12 per space, per entry.

Guest Drop-off Zones
Curbside drop-off zones are located in front of each building to allow patrons easy access to each building. Additionally, Halls A and E both have drop-off zones that do not require entry into the Expo Center parking lot.

For patrons using a service animal 

The Portland Expo Center is committed to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Oregon’s disability laws, and seeks to provide the best possible experience for our guests. We welcome guests with disabilities who wish to bring their service animals to events at the Expo Center. Pets are not allowed to attend events at the Portland Expo Center.

Definition of a service animal
As defined by the ADA, the term “service animal” means a dog or miniature horse that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of common tasks and work provided by service animals may be guiding a person who is blind, attending a person who is deaf, drafting or pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person experiencing a seizure, reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications, or calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack. The work or task a service dog or miniature horse has been trained to provide must be directly related to the person’s disability. Service animals are working animals, not pets.

Emotional support, therapy, comfort, or animals that provide comfort just by being with a person are not considered service animals because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task. Therefore, they do not qualify as service animals under the ADA and will not be admitted to the Portland Expo Center.

Admission procedure for Patrons with Service Animals
If it is not readily apparent to admissions staff that the animal is a trained service dog or miniature horse, staff will ask:

• Is your service animal trained for a disability?

Expo Center staff will never inquire about or discuss a guest’s disability. Our goal is to be helpful so that the guest and service animal are comfortable. Our staff will confirm that the service animal is leashed, harnessed, or tethered and in the control of the person at all times. If the service animal is not under the control of the person—including aggressive or erratic behavior, barking, not housebroken—the service animal will not be admitted, or if the service animal is already inside the building, we may ask that the animal be removed.

Thank you for your cooperation as we strive to provide a safe and positive experience for you, your service animal, and all guests at the Portland Expo Center. We hope your visit will be an excellent experience.

If you have any further questions, please call us at 503.736.5200 or email us. 

For Patrons & Visitors with a Disability Discrimination Complaint

If you believe you have been discriminated against regarding the receipt of benefits or services because of disability, you have the right to file a complaint with Metro.