In all the racket surrounding the indefinite postponement of a new sports arena, there has been talk of missed opportunities, the ongoing collegiate arms race and the letdown after such a quick buildup.
One thing remains forgotten: Howe Field.
The softball team’s home sweet home that was set to close following this season, allowing the Athletics Department to construct a 15,000-seat arena on the site, will remain standing.
At least for now.
Despite the University’s desire to keep the new arena’s location the same — regardless of when it is built — it would make a cheaper deal to shelve the Howe location and move the new arena to the Autzen Stadium area. Just work out a deal with Lane Transit District for student-only shuttles from campus and one problem is solved.

Some of that saved money — from the estimated $10 to $12 million budgeted to relocate the softball field — could instead be put to use upgrading Howe Field and giving it amenities. Someday, head coach Kathy Arendsen and her No. 21 Ducks want to host an NCAA Regional Tournament.
In the NCAA’s list of 20 different “Facility Requirements for Softball Championship Hosts” (also known as Appendix C) in the Division I softball handbook, Howe meets many of the standards already. The field is the right material, the dimensions fit the requirements and Mac Court is right across the parking lot for training facilities and closed interviews.
The field does need a few additions before it meets the facility requirements for hosting a regional, though. It needs a lighted field, improved seating areas — where the crowd can actually see over the dugouts — and a larger press box. Also needed is a larger concessions stand and improved restroom facilities (i.e. more than two portable toilets).
Those are all mandatory improvements that Howe Field would have to include to be eligible to host a regional tournament.
When the original arena location announcement was made Oct. 4, 2003, Arendsen said she would have been happy if the athletic department had decided to renovate Howe Field for the softball program instead.
“If they had put seating all the way to the backstop and added lights here (I’d be happy),” Arendsen had elaborated. “But it’s not in the best interests of the University. We’re proud that they care about us and that they’re going to take care of us.”
With the setback in planning for the new arena, the athletic department administrators have some time to reevaluate the best interests of the department and the various programs construction will effect. If they take care of the softball team, they will realize a campus locale will make the best fit.
They might also want to talk to the community again — not just Oregon’s community directly south of Howe, but also the basketball and softball communities.
“I’m sentimentally attached to Howe Field,” Arendsen said. “I respect the history of Howe with the many athletes and coaches and teams who have played here, not only for softball, but for baseball, our brother sport. The season we had last year is certainly tied to this. I don’t think there’s a more scenic park in the country — looking at the hills outside left field or my big, beautiful tree in right.”
And just a two-block trek from the heart of campus, Howe is accessible to the athletes for practice and to the students for games.
In the race to have the biggest arena, the best recruits and more money spent on facilities than the team itself, Oregon can’t forget why it is building a new arena in the first place: the athletes and the students.
There isn’t a better way to reward a rising program like the softball team than to renovate a location they love.