The University may be one step closer to building a new multi-million dollar arena to replace the aging McArthur Court. But the journey has been long, and the process hasn’t even reached the midway point.
Talk of replacing the 77-year-old facility began as far back as the late 1970s, but only recently has any headway been made. A year ago the University acknowledged its interest in replacing “The Pit,” and on July 31 University President Dave Frohnmayer gave the go-ahead for the new arena.
To get the facility running by 2006, construction needs to begin by 2004. But to begin building by then, planning needs to be complete by the end of this year. And to begin planning, a site needs to be selected.
The University on Sept. 3 released a report by International Facilities Group, which was hired to conduct research and “provide information relative to the major issues, advantages or disadvantages for each of the seven sites,” the report states.
The report lists the sites in tiers rather than numbered rankings, with Autzen Stadium, Howe Field and the Williams’ Bakery grouped in tier one.
However, tier one appears to consist only of two possible sites, as Williams’ Bakery is not interested in selling, Vice President of Administration Dan Williams said. Williams, incidentally, has no relation to the bakery.
“Williams’ Bakery has a lot of characteristics that are attractive from our point of view,” Williams said. “At some point, it looked like it might be possible, yet we came to the conclusion based upon conversations that they weren’t interested.”
Acquisition of the land is among the challenges, Williams said, adding that “The price tag was pretty big.” The report states it would cost $500,000 just to demolish the site, and that doesn’t include underground utilities and environmental remediation.
And although Autzen Stadium and Howe Field are on University land, they possess their own difficulties. Autzen Stadium has a large, underground water main of shallow depth that would have to be relocated, along with utilities that require upgrades.
If the Howe Field site is chosen, it would require relocation of the softball field, and traffic congestion would be a challenge as it is with the current McArthur Court.
“Now that we know what’s preferable among the several sites, what really is possible?” Williams said. “For example, with Howe Field, do we really have a place for softball? What’s preferred and what’s possible are two different things. Sites that are in tier two or tier three aren’t entirely out of the picture.”
Among the other sites, the new federal courthouse site in downtown and the East Glenwood site fell into the second tier, whereas the north campus location and Glenwood West were placed in tier three.
“The closer to campus, the better it is, yet the University and architects know the logistics better” said Bev Smith, Oregon women’s basketball head coach. “We have been involved and had some say, and now (we’re) leaving it up to them.”
The reason that the courthouse site is in tier two its distance from campus and because the University would need to buy land from 10 to 12 businesses, Williams said, although the site is still under consideration.
“We’ll do some more follow-up work on the federal courthouse site,” he said. “There’s considerable interest among some of the elected leadership and business community in us using that site.”
Williams, among others, feels that if the site is chosen it would bridge the gap between the community and the University. Yet others feel the new arena should focus on student needs.
“That’s important because the University and Athletic Department are tied to the business community,” Smith said. “But at the same time, University athletics is about students and the accessibility to students.”
The University still has plenty of “homework” to do, Williams said, before a decision will be made. Nonetheless, Williams is confident that the University can make a decision soon.
“My hope is that it will happen in a few weeks,” he said. “It depends on how quickly we can get answers to our questions. Once we have the answers, I’m sure the President is prepared to make a decision right away.”