Story by Liam O’Callaghan
Photo by Ashley Norquist
Across the street from South Eugene High School sits Civic Stadium, one of a dozen wooden ballparks remaining in America.  Built in the summer of 1938, the stadium was once host of South Eugene High Schools’ athletic teams, until the Eugene Emeralds arrived and brought minor league baseball in 1969.  The Emeralds played their last game at the stadium in 2009, and since that time the stadium has been falling into a state of disrepair, it’s future uncertain.
Civic Stadium is best remembered for its forty years of housing the Emeralds, when the stadium was a proving-ground for future all-stars such as David Freese, Mike Sweeney, and Mike Schmidt (who went on to have a Hall of Fame career after starring for the 1972 Em’s).  Fans flooded the field after the Emeralds last game at the beloved ballpark in 2009, many of them tearing chunks of grass and scooping dirt from the infield to keep as mementos.  Four years later that grass has regrown, and nature continues to creep in on the friendly confines of Civic Stadium as it sits untended.
The stadium has been owned by Eugene School District 4J since 1938 and the school board entertained proposals to build a YMCA and Fred Meyer at the site in 2010; both were turned down and the board is currently accepting proposals for the redevelopment of the stadium and its grounds a second time.  The School District’s website states that the primary goal of the RPO (request for proposal) “is to maximize revenue to the district, but the board also will consider secondary goals such as other benefits to the district, benefits to the community, and neighborhood compatibility of the proposed use.”  Proposals are due December 3rd, and there is strong support from the community to preserve the 75 year-old stadium.
Supporters emphasize the importance of Civic Stadium in building and maintaining community, and it’s history as a structure that was originally built by the Works Progress Administration during the depths of the Great Depression.  Most of the lumber and materials in it’s construction were donated, and the stadium is cherished by residents of Eugene who remember a time of simplicity and baseball in the summertime.  Sadly it seems that as society and sports trend towards massive and modern facilities such as the University of Oregon’s newly-built PK Park and Football Performance Center, venerable venues such as Civic Stadium are at risk of being paved-over.

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Civic Stadium’s scoreboard still stands as a testament to the longevity of the whole complex.