It would be hard to imagine the University of Oregon without Autzen Stadium. Since its construction 53 years ago, the over $90 million stadium seats 54,000 people and brings in an estimated $20 million for the university in football ticket revenue, according to the Department of Athletics.
But that stadium was not always the center of UO football. Many years ago, it was Hayward Field that hosted every football game. Now, during the final stages of Hayward’s renovation, the Emerald takes a look back at life in 1967 and before.
The field that became Hayward used to be a cow pasture, but, in 1919, it became a dedicated football stadium for UO. In November of that year it was named for William Hayward, a trainer back in 1902. The Oregon Weekly, the predecessor to the Daily Emerald, wrote an article that reported the total cost of the field to be $7,000. It was replacing the old Kincaid field, which itself was built for $1,500. The article reports that, “historic old Kincaid has to give way to the accommodation of the rapidly growing University.”
Hayward continued to grow with new turf fields and grandstands until Nov. 5, 1966, when the field hosted its last football game against Washington State, according to UO’s website. With the growing popularity of football, the mere 15,000 seats were not enough to keep up with the demand, so UO began a new construction project.
Instead of renovating Hayward, the university raised money to build a new stadium on 560 acres of land across the Willamette, and Autzen Stadium began to take shape.
The construction began in 1967 with an artificial crater. This was done to prevent the need for multilevel ramps, according to UO Libraries.
Autzen Stadium was just a simple, partially covered stadium surrounding a large field. Nevertheless, the stands were packed, and the barely organized parking lot was packed with cars and camper vans. After a $90-million expansion in 2003 added over 16,000 seats, it began to look closer to the Autzen we know today, according to GoDucks.com.
Hayward Field was not forgotten, however. Now, 101 years after it was first constructed, Hayward is almost done with its estimated $200-million renovations. The plans to renovate Hayward have been in place since at least 2004, as an Emerald article from the time reported.
The plans originally featured only a plaza and a new entrance, but obviously has grown since then.
What once was the site of a cow pasture will now house 12,650 permanent seats, a nine-lane track and a few ramps around the side. While the construction of Autzen took one year, Hayward is set to take two.
The Olympic trials will take place at Hayward Field in June of 2020, where 1,000 athletes will compete to qualify to represent the United States at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Hayward has been the previous site of six U.S. Olympic Team Trials, according to GoDucks.com. With the amount of money and effort going into Hayward Field, the university will continue hosting Hayward’s biggest events yet.
