With financial backers such as Nike co-founder Phil Knight, few programs can keep pace with Oregon. The school again goes next level by incorporating a modern roof and multi story tower into Hayward Field.university of oregon
The University of Oregon’s $200 million renovation of historic Hayward Field reimagines one of the United States’ most iconic track and field facilities.
Set to reopen this spring, the complex aims to recreate the original venue’s famed “Hayward Field Magic” with modern amenities and additional features, Oregon track and field coach Robert Johnson told Sports Business Journal.
The redesigned venue will feature a wooden roof inspired by Oregon’s historic connection to wood and forest products. The soffit of the upper bowl will be clad in perforated metal panels.
“We wanted to create something that is a theater for track and field,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely going to be the crown jewel because it’s in the center of campus and it’s something that people will travel far and wide to, to come and see.”
The previous iteration of Hayward Field included a 93-year-old covered grandstand on the east side of the field that was demolished. Many items from the grandstand will be salvaged and used in the rebuilt venue, including bleacher seats made from Douglas fir trees.
“There were a lot of things there that were deteriorating at Hayward Field, and the renovation just made sense,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the new Hayward Field complex will be in the same league as Oregon basketball’s Matthew Knight Arena and football’s Autzen Stadium.
The design and building of the new Hayward Field is being led by a group of companies primarily from the Pacific Northwest. Seattle’s SRG Partnership is the lead architect and is joined by MKA Structural Engineers, BHE Group Civil Engineers, PAE Consulting Engineers, HLB Lighting, Place Landscape Architecture, Cameron/McCarthy Landscape Architecture and Hoffman Construction.
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Once completed, spectators at Hayward Field will be closer to the track, with unobstructed sight lines throughout the venue. Seating will be expanded from a 10,500 capacity to 12,605 chair-backed seats. The first row of seats will sit at track level.
The main entrance of Hayward Field will be Powell Plaza, on the northeast corner of the venue, and the reinvented open space will be the front door of Oregon track and field.
The stadium is split into a lower section with nine rows and an upper level with 18 rows. Suites, concessions and restrooms will be located between the western and southwestern edges of the field. A concourse will wrap around the upper bowl of the field’s west stands.
The project includes new locker rooms, equipment, video and weight rooms for Oregon’s men’s and women’s programs. An indoor practice area will feature a six-lane, 140-meter straightaway track, as well as areas for long jump, triple jump, throws and pole vault. Training and sports medicine facilities will include a hydrotherapy room, treatment and rehab area, anti-gravity treadmill room and passive and active recovery spaces.
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The 4,000-square-foot Hayward Hall, located on the east side of the stadium, will provide a museum experience that will incorporate pieces of the old Hayward Field and chronicle the history of Oregon track and field. One exhibit will be dedicated to former Oregon track and field coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman.
Hayward Field will have a multistory tower, inspired by the Olympic torch. It features a lobby with more exhibits, an observation deck, elevator, and a staircase to the top.
The renovation was fully funded by Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, as well as more than 50 other donors. Jim Petsche, Nike’s director of corporate facilities, who represented the Knights and the other donors, declined to discuss specifics about the financing and their expectations for the new venue.
The new Hayward Field will host some marquee track and field events once it opens, including the NCAA Division I track and field championships in 2021 and 2022, and the 2021 IAAF World Championships, the first world track and field championships held in North America.
