It has been about a year now since I made the move from San Jose, CA to Corvallis , OR. When I first moved here I was sitting on the couch one day watching the news, then I saw a news story about the Civic stadium in Eugene and how a Group was able to secure enough funding to purchase the stadium and the ground it sits on with plans to renovate the Stadium and to add sports facilities for the youth of the city to use. Sadly only a few months after Eugene Civic Alliance began to put plans in motion three teen age boys committed arson and the entire historic Civic Stadium burnt down in a massive fireball. Some parts of the stadium where salvageable such as the old score board and wooden frames and beams, they will be instigated back into the new plans. Curious about the status of this effort I reached out to the folks at ECA to find out what's happening and what the next step is, along with of course the possibility of a facility worthy enough to hosts rugby matches sometime down the road. Derek Johnson a spokes person for ECA was able to answer some questions about the status of Civic stadium and how he would sell Eugene to USA Rugby to and Pro Rugby to play a test match and place a club in the area.
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LLR- Since the fire that burned
down Civic Stadium what has happened behind the scenes, are there still plans
to rebuild and continue forward with the original plans for the land?
DJ- Since the fire the Eugene
Civic Alliance has continued its efforts to build a sports and recreation
facility on the 10.2 acre parcel. The
Board of Directors is committed to making the vision a reality.
LLR- Where do things currently
stand, with funding and the next process of things that still needs to be done?
DJ- We are in a strong position
financially, owning the property free and clear and having proceeds from the
insurance claim in the bank. We intend
to kick off our major fundraising campaign this spring, and have been
assembling the materials, organizational structure and leadership to be
successful. We expect to hire an
architect within the next month. That
will help us tremendously with conceptual drawings, cost estimates and the like.
LLR- I understand that the main
attraction for this facility is to get a soccer team, Lane United, to become
the permanent residence but can the community and fans of other sports also
look forward to seeing other events being played there also?
DJ- We expect the park to have
three main components: a fieldhouse for Kidsports, big enough for four or more
basketball courts., etc.; a synthetic turf field; and a stadium with facilities
for players and fans alike. The soccer
teams, both men’s and women’s would be anchor tenants, but the stadium and
field are not being built for them. We
expect lots of other teams to play there, including other soccer teams, rugby,
ultimate Frisbee, lacrosse and others.
We also hope the venue will work for events.
LLR- Lane United FC has on their
website to be playing at the new civic stadium in 2017, is that still possible
for some portion of the overall facility to be open for sporting events to
start being held?
DJ- We would love to have some of the facility
available for play in 2017. The decision
as to when to break ground, and in what sequence, has not been made.
LLR- Being this is a rugby blog I
have to ask a few questions for the rugby folks out there especially in Oregon,
The North West has yet to host a Rugby Test match, if you could speak with USA Rugby
what would you say to convince them to play in Eugene rather than Portland or
Seattle?
DJ- Eugene would be an ideal
location for a major Rugby Test match.
The community has lots of experience putting on major events, from Duck
football games to the track meets at Hayward Field. A match in Eugene would be the biggest event
on the sporting calendar when it is played, not competing with the Timbers,
Seahawks, Blazers or any other professional team. Eugene is well situated between Seattle and
San Francisco to host such an event, and airline connections, while not like
Seattle or Portland, are adequate for this purpose. Best of all, the players and fans alike would
be one hour from the mountains and one hour from the ocean. It would be a tremendous experience for
everyone.
LLR- With the dawn of professional
rugby set to begin this April in America, why should ProRugby call Eugene home to a club in the NW over Portland and Seattle?
DJ- See #5 above. I would add that Eugene is teeming with the
age demographic that is interested in sports like rugby and soccer. And the microbrew scene would be super
accommodating. Further I suspect the
costs of running a team out of Eugene could be significantly cheaper than
bigger metro areas – air travel being the one exception.
LLR- How can those who want to
fallow the Civic Stadium progress keep in touch and fallow along?
LLR- For those who want to help
but may not live in the Eugene, how can they contribute to make Civic Stadium
become a reality?
DJ- We have a link on our website
where supporters can contribute. And
talking up the excitement of having such a venue in the heart of Eugene is
critical.
“Imagine fans arriving by bus,
bicycle and by foot; U of O students walking up for an international
experience. All the permanent seats are
long sold out, and the temporary bleachers are packed. Folks are up on Willamette trying to watch
for free. The All Blacks line up at
midfield, stare straight ahead and the crowd roars as they start their
haka. The Springboks strive to ignore
them and continue warming up casually.
The tension is palpable – beer flowing, flags streaming and fans
cheering. Finally, the referee whistles
the match to begin and Civic is reborn in a swirl of color, culture, drama and
unparalleled athleticism. Play ON.”-
Derek Johnson
rendering of plans to what ECA envisions
picture is aerial view of what was Civic Stadium
I would like to add that even though Eugene is not a major market for television , Eugene and the surrounding towns and communities, Springfield, Albany, Corvallis, and even Roseburg (total 346,487 population not including the other smaller towns in between) are areas that are experiencing massive growth and development along with a very active growing rugby scene that can contribute from having a Stadium such as Civic available to host a variety of entertainment and with the lack of proper facilities in the NW this corner of Oregon could be its answer and be the Glendale of the area. For ProRugby placing a team in Eugene would be much cheaper to pay players and allow the people involved to live more comfortably then some of the other players will be experiencing in other parts of the country on top of that you have the massive investment from Nike to University of Oregon which could allow the club and the league a chance to also tap into by playing in the same market as Nike is headquarter in ( Portland).
Facebook: www.facebook.com/eugenecivicalliance
Website: www.eugenecivicalliance.org
Twitter: @Eugenecivic
