The Univ. of Oregon has "unveiled its vision of a new Hayward Field" with renderings of a new 12,900-seat venue, according to a front-page piece by Chris Hansen of the Eugene REGISTER-GUARD. The project "will involve a complete teardown of the current structures" and will "begin construction in June and will be finished in time" for UO to host spring meets in '20. The new Hayward Field will have "state-of-the-art locker rooms, practice spaces and athletic medicine rooms, as well as a tower building that will be the tallest structure on the university campus." UO said that the facility is "being funded by gifts from Nike co-Founder Phil Knight, his wife, Penny, and more than 50 other donors." Renderings of the new facility "show a horseshoe design with a lower bowl that circles the entire stadium and an upper bowl that is open on the northeastern corner and much of the stadium’s north side." The facility will "use temporary seating to expand capacity to 30,000" in '21 to get Hayward Field "up to minimum standards for the IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships." Current capacity is "listed as 10,500, though a seat count reveals the number to be closer to 8,500." Outside the stadium on its northeast corner "will sit the nine-story, 165-foot-tall Bowerman Tower, named in honor of longtime coach and Nike co-Founder Bill Bowerman and shaped to resemble an Olympic torch" (Eugene REGISTER-GUARD, 4/18). In Portland, Ken Goe notes the new stadium as presented "will have a space-age appearance, and every bell and whistle a track coach could want." When the project is finished, the stadium "will look nothing like the current Hayward Field." There will be a "transparent roof above the permanent seats, although it's unclear how far the roof will extend or how many seats will be covered" (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/18).
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OUT WITH THE OLD: In Eugene, Austin Meek writes UO fans are getting a track facility that has “everything anybody could want, except for the historic qualities of the old one.” For fans and alums who get “sentimental about old buildings,” UO has a “clear message: Get on board, or get out of the way.” The stadium design “makes no concessions to bygone days.” No one at UO “should be surprised by the backlash regarding the stadium demolition.” The school and TrackTown USA have spent the "past decade portraying Hayward Field as a mystical mecca of track and field,” and playing up its history made sense when UO was “trying to make a 90-year-old stadium the semi-permanent home of the NCAA Championships and Olympic Trials.” However, with the ‘21 World Championships “demanding a newer and nicer venue, all of Hayward Field’s warts and infirmities are suddenly coming to light” (Eugene REGISTER-GUARD, 4/18).
