Originally published on CampusAttic.com on October 9th, 2013
2013
marks yet another achievement by the University of Oregon, raising the bar once
more in world-class unrivaled athletic facilities, amateur or pro, anywhere in
the world. The new football operations center, named the Hatfield-Dowlin
Complex (the term HD fitting Oregon’s swag a little too perfectly), is the envy
of every school and professional team around, and the additions to the north
side of Autzen Stadium further adds to the aesthetic of gamedays in Eugene as
one of the best fan experiences anywhere.
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| The new Hatfield-Dowlin Complex Football Operations Center. (Nate Barrett/Emerald). |
The
HD Complex is true to its name, embellished with flat-screens and luxuries at
every turn more typical of McMansions not college student training centers. It
is only the latest in what has been a long-term process at the UO stretching
back decades, developing top-notch facilities both athletically and
academically to attract the best athletes to Eugene in order to maintain
Oregon’s competitiveness on a national scale.
The
success of on-field athletics causes a trickle-down effect positively impacting
the entire school, despite inevitable griping from some that believe the
emphasis on athletics detracts from the overall point of a college as an
educational institution. Yet it still is a business, and the most accessible
form of profits for the business of higher education comes through athletic
ticket sales, hence what’s good on the field translates to what’s good in the
classrooms.
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| The Lillis Business Center, one of the many modern buildings to appear on campus in recent years. (©UO Special Collections) |
Just
consider the overall facelift to the entire school that has taken effect since
the success of the 1994 football season, when the team improbably won the
Pac-10 title (picked to finish 9th in the conference in the preseason),
reaching the Rose Bowl, which sparked an influx of donations and ticket sales.
Those donations and investments have resulted in not just amazing new football
facilities, but improvements to structures throughout all of academia at the
UO.
While
it may have started a little slow, as momentum was gained on the field it
fueled expedited construction and even an overall re-branding of the entire
school on a national level, no longer the block intersecting UO but now simply
known as the O.
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| The late 90s saw a change in logo. |
Current
students only know of success at what is today one of the best and most popular
collegiate athletic programs in the country, Oregon thanks to a multi-decade
campaign is now considered as a national brand. That didn’t happen overnight,
nor has it always gone to plan. The end results instill pride in fans and breed
on-field success, but long before the flashy uniforms and towering monuments to
sport existed, Oregon’s teams competed in rather sorrowful conditions.
Talk
to athletes who competed on the football field of Hayward before Autzen Stadium
was built in 1967, they’ll wax poetic of sitting on lawn mowers and garbage
cans in the meager locker rooms under the stands. Talk to athletes who competed
in Mac Court of its facilities, and hear stories of how the walls would ooze in
the lower recesses of the old building where the locker rooms were located,
from the bathroom pipes above.
Yet
even Autzen Stadium itself, a monument in its original form to thrifty and
expedited construction (its basic berm design completed in 1967 for barely over
a million dollars), has undergone some interesting variations in its evolution.
The original architectural designs for what would become Autzen Stadium definitely
went outside the box, amidst the height of the drive-in theater/restaurant
craze why not make a drive-in stadium? The original designs of the football
stadium to replace Hayward Field included endzone parking for fans to watch
from the comfort of their cars.
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| Early designs for what would eventually become Autzen Stadium included endzone parking. (Benzduck.com) |
This
change in Oregon’s personality from humble low-income blue-collar worker to the
spoiled rich kid didn’t happen overnight. Phil Knight, Nike’s former CEO and
famous philanthropic uber-booster, didn’t suddenly snap his fingers and
suddenly there were trophies. Regardless of how great a locker room or treatment
center may be, Oregon’s success has and always will be about the people first,
the coaches and players. It is not the uniform that wins a game, but the
individual within the uniform.
This
is certainly evidenced by history, whereas claims today of best year ever for
the UO athletic program in terms of on-field performance are justified, records
show that 1976 was quite possibly the best year in the history of the program’s
existence in terms of overall athletic performance, despite run-down facilities
and an abysmal football program while facing major budgetary issues.
Matthew
Knight Arena, the Casanova Center and its repeated upgrades, the Moshofsky
Center, PK Park, Jacqua Athlete Center, Pape’ Field, Student Tennis Center,
Student Rec Center and more; construction crews have been busy for the past two
decades taking Oregon from among the worst to first. Older structures like Howe
Field, Autzen Stadium, and Hayward Field have received repeated upgrades to
give the older structures new life, while only McArthur Court’s future hangs in
doubt as to its future after its nearly 90 years of service.
For
every one of these projects realized, there have been previous attempts to
solve an inherent issue, some more successful than others. From the 19th
century to the 21st, the University of Oregon has been consistent in its
outside-the-box thinking of trying to find the best means to compete.
Space
to build has been a common issue, finding a suitable location to address
inherent needs occasionally trumping the construction plans, or causing some
interesting solutions. Take for example the 1963 plan to build new structures
on stilts and raised walkways and bridges above the graves of Pioneer Cemetery,
utilizing the valuable space of the graveyard while still keeping the grave
sites intact. This plan thankfully fell through, and the pioneer cemetery
remains in its original state.
 |
| Might this have been Oregon’s campus above the cemetery? |
Other
innovative ideas though have come to fruition, such as the construction of Onyx
Bridge in 1961, elevating the new science wing above ground spanning Onyx St.
to permit at least partial traffic to pass below.
In
the university’s early years it was becoming clear that Deady Hall and Villard
Hall were not enough alone to house the expanding university, so what was
Oregon’s solution? Buy the house of one of the school’s professors nearby and
convert it into a library, and transform its barn and garage into classrooms
and an observatory to replace the unusable observatory on top of Skinner’s
Butte. This bold move thought at first to be a quick temporary fix, completed
in 1890, resulted in Collier House and Barn Hall. While Barn Hall was razed
long ago to make room for more permanent structures, Collier House remains a
useful building for the university now into its third century, currently
housing offices for the music department across from the EMU.
Other
times initial failures have been re-envisioned years later, such as the
Moshofsky Center. Built in 1998, “the Mo” was the first indoor practice
facility in the Pac-10, a landmark building providing indoor facilities for
football, track, softball, acrobatics and tumbling, and other sports needing an
opportunity to get out of the rain. The Mo has clearly been a vital cog in the
progression of Oregon football success to becoming one of the top programs in
the nation.
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| The Balloon Field House. (©UO Special Collections) |
But
while the Mo was indeed the first indoor practice facility in the Pac-10, it
wasn’t in the Pac-8. Indeed, Oregon had attempted an indoor structure three
decades prior. In 1968 Oregon football was in its second year under coach Jerry
Frei, with Autzen Stadium barely a year old. Coach Frei wanted a way to work
out of the rain, and lobbied for any means to do so. The result was the Balloon
Field House, a pneumatic structure (think of a giant balloon or inflatable
geodesic dome) on campus that in theory provided room to practice inside. The
Field House though was fraught with problems, leaks, and other issues making it
largely unusable, leading to its sale and removal in 1971.
The
University of Oregon has also had a long-standing, if albeit unofficial, policy
of recycling structures whenever possible. Buildings once designed for one
purpose have over time evolved and been remodeled to incorporate the
foundations for newer structures. Much of the Lillis Business Complex is
comprised of the previously separate structures Gilbert Hall, Peterson Hall,
and Commonwealth Hall. Esslinger Hall, home of the physical education school
(which partially burned down in the 1970s) next to McArthur Court, now
incorporates Leighton Pool and the Student Rec Center.
A portion of the
original Architecture Building (1914) and Mechanical Hall (1901) now comprise
portions of Lawrence Hall. Emerald Hall was transported from Corvallis to the
UO campus after World War II and utilized until its demolition in 1987 to make
room for Willamette Hall. The examples of structures for other purposes as the
campus has evolved goes on and on.
Space
is the primary issue today facing Oregon, with one highly desired athletic
facility yet to see fruition–an indoor track facility. It seems odd that
Tracktown USA would be lacking in track facilities, but such is the case.
Whether or not funds could be raised to build a state-of-the-art indoor track
is not in doubt, but where to put it is definitely a problem.
The
possible solution exists in demolishing historic McArthur Court and Howe Field,
but then where to put a new softball field? Well, there is a teeny tiny sliver
of the original Autzen Stadium parking lot that could provide the solution for
a new softball field, but the outcry over the destruction of two historic
campus landmarks and the total loss of tailgating for fall Saturdays may be too
much to overcome the necessity of an indoor track.
While
construction crews working both on campus and across the river at the Autzen
complex have become such a familiar site in recent years it could be said that
the work crews have spent more time in classrooms than students, the roots of
this construction boom can be traced back to 1984. It was that year that Bill
Byrne was hired as the athletic director for the University of Oregon, from
that point Byrne and then Oregon head football coach Rich Brooks worked
together to forever alter the landscape of the university and community.
For
as much resistance and calls for Brooks’ head existed until his departure to
the NFL after the 1994 season, not nearly enough credit in hindsight is given
to Byrne and Brooks in establishing Oregon’s march to facility-victory. The
field at Autzen Stadium was branded as Rich Brooks Field in 1995, but it is
Brooks’ and Byrne’s efforts off the field rather than on-field performance that
really deserves honors.
The
first step in the Byrne-Brooks masterplan was simple, raise funds. Byrne got to
work fast, generating $19 million in a 1985 campaign. Bill Byrne was named the
National Fundraiser of the Year by the NAFA for his efforts, while the “Quack
Attack” ad campaigns began getting national press for its efforts to brand the
university beyond its traditional regional reach.
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| Plans to make Autzen a dome came closer than people think. (Register Guard) |
So
what were the funds intended for? A radical change to match their
outside-the-box thinking to make Oregon stand out–turn the nearly twenty-year
old Autzen Stadium into a dome. The added bonus of making Autzen into a dome
was to make the football facility double as a replacement basketball arena for
the aging McArthur Court, hanging a curtain from the roof dividing the field to
set up a court in an endzone, similar to how the Alamo Dome was utilized for
the San Antonio Spurs.
While
plans for the Autzen dome fell through, the funding went to good use on plan B,
the construction of the sky suites on the Autzen Stadium north side. Through
the funds generated from the sale of suites and other fundraising over the next
three years, this set the path towards the construction of the Casanova Center
beginning in 1989.
For
further funding Oregon spearheaded a statewide campaign, utilizing lottery
funds in a new program called “Sports Action,” receiving much controversy over
the association of gambling and sports tied in with academic institutions.
While it had its critics, it served its purposes, raising much needed funds for
Oregon and other schools, but it also had its negative side…the NCAA to have
NCAA Tournament basketball regional rounds take place in the state until Sports
Action was halted, something much desired by Nike and the city of Portland
after construction of the Rose Garden–home of the Portland Trailblazers.
The
Cas Center brought stability to the entire athletic program, and marked the
first identifiable watermark step forward in transforming Oregon from
little-known also-ran into perennial contender. While it took several years to
complete the Casanova Center, with multiple upgrades made to the building such
as new locker rooms, expanded offices, and a treatment center; the Casanova
Center stands as the monument to the new University of Oregon.
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| The Autzen Stadium complex now has everything, except maybe room for parking. |
Prior
to the Cas Center there had been a culture of repair and maintain, such as
Hayward Field’s multiple restorations in the 1920s, 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s,
now after the Casanova Center the age of modernism and a cavalier
spare-no-expense attitude permeates. What was once nothing but parking lot
surrounding Autzen Stadium has now become a massive all-encompassing athletic
complex. The Moshofsky Center, PK Park (home of the revived Oregon baseball
program), Pape’ Field (lacrosse, soccer), the HD complex, practice fields,
treatment centers. The area around Autzen now has everything a collegiate
athletic program could ever ask for…except maybe room for fans to park.
Across
the river, Campus too is now glitz and glitter. The Jaqua Center stands as the
premier student-athlete academic center, in stark contrast to the cramped dank
offices in the basement of McArthur Court that previously held those offices.
The Knight Law Center across the street from Hayward Field sparkles, the
journalism program has a completely remodeled Allen Hall, and Hayward Field
with its new Powell Plaza and upgrades looks nothing like a 94-year old
facility should. Everything, even the old buildings, have bright new polish, a
shiny exterior of a bustling futuristic university of the 21st century.
This
is the fruition of the University of Oregon in the new era, and has brought
with it new ideas of how students have the opportunity to attend college-the
state of Oregon now leading efforts to alter how students afford a college
education. While new buildings go up, old ones are utilized for new purposes.
Some see a new life, while innovative ideas are presented to address campus
needs. Some of these come to fruition, such as the HD complex, while others
like the Duck Dome or cemetery ewok village remain rarely mentioned distant
memories.
Just
one part of the ever-evolving University of Oregon identity.
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