Oregon Town Fights for 1938 Ballpark
By Krista Walton | Online Only | July 1, 2009
Residents of Eugene, Ore., have long been content to watch local ball games not in a stainless-steel, surround-sound modern arena, but in a simple wood stadium built in the 1930s. However, with the owners of the Eugene Civic Stadium waffling over selling the land and the possibility of the local minor league ball team moving to a new venue, locals are now concerned that the next generation may not have that same privilege.
"Going to a game at Civic is like a time warp, like going into a Norman Rockwell painting," says Tom Halferty, secretary of Save Civic Stadium, a local organization that formed two years ago.
Eugene Civic Stadium was primarily used for high school football, soccer, and baseball games, but it also hosted graduation ceremonies, Fourth of July fireworks, and even rodeos. Since 1969, the stadium has also been home to the Minor League Baseball team the Eugene Emeralds, known as the "Ems," making it the eighth-oldest minor league baseball park in the country.
When it opened in 1938, the stadium was deeded to a local school district for $1. However, local schools have since constructed new athletic fields, and Civic Stadium is used less and less frequently.
In 2007, the school district went before local courts to have a clause removed from the original property deed that said the stadium was to be used as recreational space "in perpetuity." The school district also listed the stadium as "surplus property," prompting concerns among locals that the district was planning to sell or develop the property. The community had further cause for concern when, last year, the Ems were invited to use a new stadium that the University of Oregon, which opened this year. The team has since been advertising the 2009 season as their last at Civic Stadium, though they have yet to sign a lease with the University of Oregon.
In response, several community members created Save Civic Stadium, and gathered over 3,000 signatures from residents in Eugene and the surrounding area in support of preservation. Board members have also met with school district representatives, who have recently indicated that they don't plan to sell Civic Stadium. Still, the school district, facing a budget deficit of about $20 million, has long deferred maintenance on the structure; the roof over the bleachers is leaking and the field no longer meets minor league baseball standards.
"Once the Ems leave and the place is vacant, there won't be a revenue stream to pay for the maintenance," Halferty says. "People have met their high school sweethearts here, their partners for years. People remember their parents taking them to civic stadium, and they want to take their kids there too."
The stadium itself occupies 3.3 acres of a 10-acre site; ideally, says Halferty, the unoccupied land would be developed in a public-private partnership, and the profits from that development could fund the stadium's restoration and maintenance, an effort that he estimates could cost $10 million. Other possibilities for the stadium include leasing it to an independent minor league baseball team or a minor league soccer team.
The property, including the wooden stadium and bleachers built with old-growth Douglas fir, was appraised at $4.7 million. Civic Stadium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in last fall.
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Submitted by Civic at: July 2, 2009
Save Civic Stadium hopes to enlist baseball lovers, potential developers or philanthropists into its effort to preserve this community jewel. Visit our website at www.savecivicstadium as well.