Nearly three years after University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer put the brakes on the plans for a new basketball arena, the project has once again gained momentum with an aggressive push in 2007 to replace the now 80-year-old McArthur Court.
The University reached a contract settlement with former Athletic Director Bill Moos, brought in donor and long-time arena supporter Pat Kilkenny, and announced in late April the return of former Senior Associate Athletic Director Jim Bartko, who spent less than one year at the University of California and was a critical fundraiser at Oregon, even serving as the link between prominent donor Phil Knight and the athletic department.
The athletic department is also taking steps to ensure the arena project is back in the forefront of the public spotlight, bringing in the model of the arena and placing it in the lobby of the Casanova Center as well as placing a virtual tour video online.
“My biggest thing coming back right now is trying to figure out where we are since I left and trying to piece it together,” Bartko said. “It’s a pretty big project when you stop and restart it.
“There’s momentum now with a great basketball season. We have a stable department. I think we can take what was done in the previous five years and hopefully put a plan in place that will work for everybody.”
As unplanned costs continued to soar and other financial and time complications continued to mount against the arena project, Frohnmayer halted the plans in February of 2004 after giving the go-ahead in July of 2003. The initial expected costs of $90 to $130 million eventually ballooned to $180 million.
Still, Frohnmayer and the University reportedly walked away from nearly $130 million in expected private donations.
“Review of the project – its scope, its complexity, its financing – make it clear that we cannot move forward at this point,” Frohnmayer told the Emerald in 2004. “We thought it would be more important to postpone it until we could make sure all the right elements come together at the same time. We will need to develop an alternative in the near future.”
And that time appears to be now.
The University already has its site – the Williams’ Bakery on the east side of campus, purchased in 2005 for $22 million – and currently have close to $10 million in pledges that are “in place and ready to go,” Bartko said, adding that the funding model probably “has us raising probably over $100 million more.”
“Our hope is 30 contributors to make that happen,” Bartko said. “I think we’re in place for that. I feel strongly that if we put together a good plan, a good program and a vision, those people will help.”
Bartko and those closely tied to the project plan to meet this week along with the design team to better formulate a new plan for the arena, a process that could take two to three weeks to finalize.
“This will be a pretty big week to figure out what it entails,” Bartko said. “We can’t really approach the donors or even go back to the community until we know what it is. That’s our first stop.”
The project has yet to receive the financial backing from Knight, figured to be a key ingredient to the building of the new arena.
“I talk to Phil every 10 days or so about one subject or another,” Kilkenny said. “We both love our Oregon athletics. We don’t talk about this subject very often but we will have a dialogue about it.”
“I fully believe if there’s a good plan in place … Phil will be helpful,” Bartko said. “The generosity he’s had … I think will be there down the road.”
Bartko said the costs a year ago for the arena were about $120 million in direct construction costs and $30 million in soft costs for a 420,000-square-foot building.
The cost of the arena in this new plan could vary dramatically, depending on the donor’s wishes.
“What would drive up the cost of the building would be trying to replicate a Mac Court,” said Bartko, who added he hopes the new arena will last for the next 100 years. “You can build a pretty sterile arena for less money, but I think Mac Court is such a strong presence that you want to make it a loud, intimate place. There’s a cost to that.”
Early estimates from Kilkenny place the cost of the arena at $175 million to $185 million.
“I’m optimistic (about the $185 million arena),” Kilkenny said. “I wouldn’t necessarily use the word confident. I would say optimistic.”
The arena, based on a 12,000-seat model and by hosting other events, could generate an estimated $3-$5 million more in revenue than McArthur Court, which would certainly help an athletic department that pays its own bills but does not turn a profit.
Bartko said in a perfect scenario, the athletic department would have a business model put together again in two to three months and have an idea of the costs in two to three weeks.
“I would hope between September and December we’d have a go as to what it’s going to be and hopefully break ground a year from now,” Bartko said. “Once you break ground, it’s 24 months (until completion).”
As for the future of the beloved McArthur Court, the second oldest on-campus basketball arena?
“Older buildings are more expensive to maintain,” Kilkenny said. “As a pragmatic business man, I would tear it down. It’s a nice piece of land.”
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