Plans for a new basketball arena have stirred up a good deal of commotion among skeptical neighbors and students over the last three years, but as deterioration and spatial concerns continue to plague the current basketball facility, McArthur Court, better known as “The Pit,” the University is still seeking private contributors for a new arena. Little progress has been made, and the plan remains stuck in the “if” stage.
“We need one, and I hope we get one,” said University President Dave Frohnmayer in an interview. “We’re doing what we can to make it feasible.”
The main setback for the University’s plan to build is funding. After University-hired consultants from Conventions Sports & Leisure International determined in April 2003 that a new basketball arena “is feasible and will strengthen the financial footing for UO Intercollegiate Athletics,” as well as “enhance the University’s competitiveness in recruiting potential athletes and coaches,” according to an Inside Oregon newsletter, University officials quoted the project at $160 million, all of which will be raised strictly by private donors.
“We don’t have funding yet,” Frohnmayer said. “If we get the funding, the premium will be on full-speed ahead.”
Frohnmayer said the University is not going to waste money by slowing the construction process.
“It’s no one’s intent to string out the costs,” he said.
A major hurdle already has been cleared after the University purchased the Williams’ Bakery property earlier this year for $22,231,816 after being approved by the Legislative Emergency Board to use state-backed bonds. At the time of the purchase there were no explicit intentions to build an arena.
Inside Oregon reported Frohnmayer as initially saying, “In no way should the acquisition of this site be taken as a signal regarding the arena.” Most recently, Frohnmayer called the land “absolutely perfect” for the arena. But the “if” remains.
“The ‘if’ is big. But if we build it, (the Williams’ Bakery site) is where it will be,” Frohnmayer said.
One of the main concerns is that the project will begin and end without enough input from the community.
To combat this fear, West University Neighbors passed a resolution on March 3 that asked University, city and county officials to initiate a public forum where they could meet and discuss the University’s arena plans with the community. The resolution also asked that neighbors have a say in choosing a location for the proposed new arena.
Mayor Kitty Piercy later met with the West University Neighbors board to discuss, among other topics, opening up communication lines between the community and the University.
Because there have been few advances on the project since purchasing the location site, Frohnmayer assured the Emerald that if the project gets the go-ahead, “there will be opportunities for (the community) to speak.”
Neighbors and students concerned with the location or speed of the decision-making still have more than a year before Williams’ Bakery is fully vacated and ready for construction, and will have even more time to voice their concerns if the funding is not found by then.
Local activist Zach Vishanoff called for a three-month notice before taking action on a basketball arena so that concerned students and community members could voice their opinions.
City officials, from the mayor to City Councilor David Kelly, have responded to such concerns by saying that there will be public hearings before the Eugene Planning Commission and City Council.
Associate Vice President of Governmental Affairs Mike Redding told Mayor Piercy at a Sept. 1 meeting that there has not been any movement on the new arena, but as soon as there is “there will be a public engagement process that we can all participate in.”
Piercy wrote in an e-mail that while the arena and University-owned property is not necessarily within her jurisdiction, “any issues around zoning, streets, neighborhood impact, and transit certainly involve the city and other entities” and are therefore within her domain.
“We will look forward to working together in seeing that this entrance into our community is one we are all proud to support,” Piercy wrote in her e-mail.
Until funding goals for the project are met and a few smaller pieces of land are acquired, either by eminent domain or financial bargaining, the only forward movements are in paper form.
University graduate Bob Thompson of Thompson Vaivoda and Associates Architects Inc., also Nike founder Phil Knight’s primary architect, is working on design elements for the arena.
The University is currently raising money from private donors for Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives. To date, the University has raised $364 million of its $600 million goal. This money will eventually be used to double endowed faculty positions; fund building projects for music, education, theater and other facilities; attract top undergraduate and graduate students by increasing investment in recruiting and retaining qualified faculty members and increasing access to scholarships and fellowships for students. These efforts combine to make the University a place of “promise” by shooting for national and international recognition, according campaign.uoregon.edu.
While the arena is part of Campaign Oregon, former Vice President for Administration Dan Williams told Emerald reporter Meghann Cuniff in April that an arena currently is not a top priority for the University if it means taking donations away from other causes.
“What we tried to do is identify people who we know either have the capacity or whose primary interest is athletics,” Williams said (ODE, April 25, “Arena plan still suffers from lack of funding”). “We don’t raise money for the arena at the expense of other academic facilities and other campaign projects.”
After the Williams’ Bakery site is vacated in summer 2006, Frohnmayer estimates the arena project to take two years, assuming funding goals are met.

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