The completion of Hayward Field over the summer 2020 was not met with the fanfare that the university community expected. As the COVID-19 pandemic raged on and Eugene suffered one of the worst wildfire outbreaks in recent memory, the newly refurbished stadium stood vacant.
The project shows the University of Oregon community’s innovation, but has also been met with a fair amount of skepticism. Higher education has been rocked by rising costs and shuttered campuses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The renovations, which began in summer 2018, were undertaken in order for Hayward Field to host the 2020 U.S Olympic Trials for the Olympic games in Tokyo. The project was primarily funded by Phil and Penny Knight along with 50 other donors. After the Olympics were canceled due to COVID-19, the new Hayward Field remained, awaiting the return of sports.
The new Hayward boasts a number of amenities, including modern locker and weight rooms, a nine-lane track, a hydrotherapy space and an anti-gravity treadmill room. These features were made with elite international athletes in mind as Eugene tries to position itself as the hub of international track and field.
On an aesthetic level, the new stadium pays homage to the long tradition of track and field in the UO community. The stadium contains a 4,000-square-foot museum that will educate fans about the figures of Oregon’s track and field history.
For the spectator, the university promotes a theatrical experience for track and field, with the roof curving over the stands to protect fans from the rainy willamette valley climate. The redesign includes creating unobstructed sight lines which enhances the viewing experience.
“As a team we really wanted to respect the past and represent the future,” Nike’s creative director for special projects, Todd Van Horne said. “There are certain elements of the hallowed ground of Hayward Field that we wanted to bring forward: intimacy with the crowd and the echoing of the crowd.”
The biggest structural change in the new Hayward Field is the ten-story tower. The tower will contain an observation deck as well various security and satellite offices.
The tower is decorated with groundbreaking members of Oregon’s track and field past including former coach and Nike collaborator Bill Bowerman, as well as runners Steve Prefontaine, Raevyn Rogers, Ashton Eaton and Otis Davis.
The current track and field team has spent 22 months away from their home track and will now finally have a chance to return and access the new amenities.
“For the athletes, it’s going to be one of those kids in Christmas moments,” Oregon track and field coach Robert Johnson said. “Something that they have waited 22 months to unwrap. The look on their faces will be priceless.”
For current and future Oregon athletes who one day aspire to represent their country in the Olympics, an Olympic-quality stadium like Hayward Field will be a major draw.
“A new facility will add to the mystique, the motivation of what’s next for the university and the program,” Rogers said.
The reconstruction of Hayward Field is a testament to the growth of the Oregon track and field program. Hayward Field was first constructed in 1919 as an all-purpose arena, which also hosted the football team.
After Autzen Stadium was constructed in 1967, Hayward Field was solely a track and field stadium. Over the decades, many elite track athletes have competed at Hayward Field, as Eugene adopted the moniker of “Track Town, USA.” The stadium has hosted many marquee events including three Olympic trials and nine NCAA championships.
The multi-year construction project did not escape controversy. The project, which had a budget of $60 million, was rumored to cost over 200 million dollars. The construction of Hayward Field, as well as the redesign of Hamilton Residence Hall and the new construction of the Knight Campus, was seen as financially irresponsible by some members of the community, especially in the face of declining enrollment.
In 2017, the university petitioned Salem for $100 million for the construction of Knight Campus, while the state was over a billion dollars in debt from the construction of new university building projects statewide. The unforeseen financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has put colleges nationwide in a bind and it has somewhat dampened Hayward Field’s debut.
The student angst over the rising costs of tuition with the continued construction of new facilities culminated in students zip-tying signs to the fencing outside of Hayward, protesting the high costs of university construction.
The daily construction, especially the drilling, created high levels of noise pollution. Construction especially impacted campus freshmen. Students who lived in the dorms adjacent to the construction site had to contend with construction that stretched late into the night and early mornings as the project fell behind schedule.
In May 2019, there was controversy over the pouring of hot rubberized asphalt during construction, which created an odor that further impacted students living in dorms who were paying high prices to live in an uncomfortable environment.
Some community members questioned if the university was fulfilling their self-imposed climate plan, as in the summer 2018 during the opening phase of construction, almost two dozen trees were taken down to facilitate construction of Hayward Field.
All in all, the construction of Hayward Field stands as a monument of achievement for the growth of sports culture in the Eugene community. As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout process continues, there is hope that fans will finally be able to return to Hayward Field after a long two-year absence.
