Tag Archives: Hayward Field

Eugene Weekly calls it as they see it: The Phildo

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Per the UO Constitution, the official naming ceremony requires pro-forma approval by Pres Schill and his Faculty Advisory Committee. But the Eugene Weekly has spoken:

We loved all the responses we got for naming the Hayward Field tower — and Phil’s Phallus Palace was a strong runner up. The “weiner” is: The Phildo. Come get your Eugene Weekly T-shirt. And University of Oregon: Please take note, and also the UO and Nike should rethink possible future designs that bear distinct responses to parts of the anatomy that don’t involve footwear.

Rumor has it that 3-D printed USB powered versions will be for sale soon in an array of sizes at ThePhildo.com, for far less than the ~$2.37M the academic side had to pay to wire up this egofice.

The naming call was easy. As UO’s Hayward website notes “Its perforated metal skin and steel form flare upward and outward to resemble a …”

Well, you get the idea. And what will be under the foreskin of this “heroic wood” egofice? A living room:

The Phildo takes final form

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1/22/2020: Burly ironworkers add thick, pulsing veins to Duck’s “University Tower”

I thought the original egofice (left) was surprisingly small – some might even say under-endowed. Apparently someone with money was also underwhelmed, and the construction crew has been working double-shifts to add some girth, just in case anyone didn’t get the symbolism:

No news yet on the invite list for the topping-off ceremony, but I’m guessing it won’t include the UO students who are paying $2.37M to wire it up.

2/1/2020: I’d like to thank the anonymous reader who took this NSFW photo for not sending it to my work email:

University to issue earplugs, tranquilizers to dorm residents

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Just kidding. UO’s not even notifying the students that they can file public comments objecting to the plan  – to do concrete drilling outside their dorm rooms for the Hayward Field renovations, from 7PM to midnight through Jan 31. The Daily Emerald has the story here. Public notice was mailed only to residents and students living in private housing. UO plans to notify students *after* the city approves the noise variance.

Historified Hayward Field to host 2020 Olympic track trials

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Comments Off on Historified Hayward Field to host 2020 Olympic track trials

That’s the word from one of Ken Goe’s many anonymous sources, in the Oregonian here. So Howard Slusher and Jim Petsche have less than two years to get their thing erected. Thanks to an anonymous reader for the tip.

PS – can someone tell me the dates for this extravaganza, so we can get our house up on AirBnB before all the deans do?

What’s under the foreskin of the Tower O’ Excellence’s “heroic wood”?

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While our General Counsel’s Public Records Office is still stonewalling requests for the Hayward Field lease agreement between UO and Phit LLC, today Duck spokesperson Tobin Klinger told the RG that UO is no longer in control:

… The privately funded rebuild of the stadium is being led by Nike co-founder Phil Knight, with the UO transferring the land to a private Knight-controlled LLC for the duration of construction. As a result, Klinger acknowledged that UO officials didn’t have input on the latest round of design changes. …

The Hayward website notes “Its perforated metal skin and steel form flare upward and outward to resemble a …”

Well, you get the idea. And what will be under the foreskin of this “heroic wood” egofice? A living room. Really?

 

Historic Hayward Field teardown begins by ripping apart roof timbers, as Klinger explains “salvage” plans

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Update: From the RG, here:

UO spokesman Tobin Klinger described the work being done Friday as the “pre-construction process,” part of preparing the site for a new stadium.

“There are a couple of earth-movers that are doing the removal in a way that is intended to allow us to continue to salvage materials as we go through this process, for future use,” Klinger said.

It’s not cheap to find a man willing to say things like this – though I’m not sure why UO is paying Mr. Klinger to carry water for Paul Weinhold’s UO Foundation:

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Video of the UO Foundation “continuing to salvage materials … for future use”, from a helpful commenter:

Hayward teardown vigil starts Tu at 2PM, DOJ still vetting Lananna deal

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Update: A press release, explaining that city officials will be present to discuss the arborcide.

Contact:
Michael Carrigan 541-844-4677
Jim Watson 541-520-8942
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Tuesday, June 19
Protesters To Gather at Hayward Field East Grandstand Tuesday

Community members will hold a vigil at 2:00 PM Tuesday to protest the imminent destruction of Hayward Field’s historic East Grandstand. The group, calling itself Save Hayward Magic, objects to the removal of all structures and trees on the Hayward site, and rejects the uncovered stadium proposed as a replacement. Responsibility for upgrading Hayward Field to meet the requirements of the 2021 World Games lies with a private company, Phit, LLC, an instrument of Nike founder Phil Knight.

Those picketing Tuesday say they want the East Grandstand saved because it provides important features not present in the completely replaced stadium first revealed by Phit LLC in April this year. They support the previous model for the site prepared by Nike designer Tinker Hatfield. That design included the East Grandstand in a plan to provide a flexible number of seats for different Hayward events.

The Save Hayward Magic group cites cover from rain, shading from sun, and fan interaction with the athletes as reasons to keep the historic structure. If the wooden structure is torn down over exaggerated fears of dryrot, they say they will continue to advocate for a stadium that includes the fan-friendly features. They say a replica of the 1925 design could be built at an affordable cost using materials already salvaged from the original.

The Save Hayward Magic group was formed by community members who attended meetings called by East Grandstand Supporters. The East Grandstand group has focused its efforts on presenting a legal challenge to the demolition. Save Hayward Magic wants the University of Oregon to pull back its authorization for Phit LLC to construct an enclosed stadium on the site of an existing University facility. They say financing problems with the Matt Knight arena, also managed by the Nike group, demonstrate how the new track venue could be forced to become a multi-purpose facility that draws significantly more traffic to the east campus area. Planning for the new facility bypassed both the City’s Neighborhood Associations and the University’s campus planning department.

Picketers will be at the Powell Plaza, 15th and Agate, starting at 2:00 PM. Later in the afternoon there will be a meeting at that site with Eugene officials to discuss appealing a permit decision that allows the Phit to cut the City-owned trees surrounding Hayward Field.

A well-informed source reports:

Save Hayward Magic Coalition will be organizing a vigil at Powell Plaza tomorrow–Tuesday, June 19–at 2pm.  They will be protesting the demolition of the East Grandstand, the process (read: lack of) leading to this point, and the wholly inappropriate involvement of corporate interests in the development of publicly owned University property.  We’re not sure exactly when actual bulldozer demo will start, but there are rumors it could start as early as tomorrow afternoon.

I’d like to believe that the new egofice and accessory schlong won’t cost UO’s academic side, but apparently we’re already on the hook for $1300 large, to rebuild the Hayward utility corridor to make it suitable for the athletic department’s needs:

Someone really needs to get the gift letter that spells out how much UO will have to pay for Phil Knight’s gift.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Tourism Commission’s contract with Vin Lananna’s Oregon 21 spinoff, to promote the notoriously corrupt IAAF’s 2021 championships, seems to be getting some special attention from the Oregon DOJ:

The deal was announced in December, but the DOJ still has questions. Presumably the FBI does too.

City gives OK for demolishing soon to be former Historic Hayward Field

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Update: As of Friday. Only Hayduke can stop the bulldozers now. It’s public property, but there’s no process for input from anyone but the UO President and the donor.

Update: Can Historic Hayward Field supporters convince Uncle Phil to call off the bulldozers?

Austin Meek has many new details in the RG today including quotes from Knight et al. Ken Goe has a blunt open letter from Tinker Hatfield here. Worth reading it all, here’s a snippet:

… Unfortunately, not many people understand “high performance sports,” let alone architecture, so it’s relatively easy to put a shiny object in their view and get them excited. That is the phenomena we are facing today. The University of Oregon won’t say boo because it just recently became the beneficiary of Knight’s very generous gift of $500 million for science. The gift will change the University of Oregon forever, in a good way.

The same could be said of this $200 million gift to Hayward Field, except that the change will be a negative one for track and field in the long run. Let me explain. …

I sincerely hope that collectively and individually your voices and those of many concerned fans and athletes alike will speak to Phil in this final hour. Please don’t let this mistake of epic proportion be the eventual end of the Hayward Field magic.

— Tinker Hatfield

5/31/2018: Here’s a brief report on tonight’s public meeting. KEZI has a report and video, and the Daily Emerald will have more info on the teardown in their Monday edition, which will also be distributed at the NCAA championships this June 6-9 at “Historic Hayward Field”.

There were about 45 in attendance. A mix of university and neighborhood and, judging by comments and BMI, many serious track and field people. If there was anyone from the UO administration or the UO Foundation taking notes they kept their head down.

The organizers were very clear that they supported the IAAF 2021 meet and were enthusiastic about renovating Hayward Field for it, and the audience was too. They just don’t want the historic part torn down.

The meeting was very well run by Bob Penny, and the speakers provided a lot of new information. Jim Tice from Architecture even brought a model of the East Grandstand, built back in the day by one of Marion Ross’s students. Out of wood, of course.

Peter John Thompson, a coach, adviser on stadium projects worldwide, and an IAAF employee for 20 years (I wonder if the FBI has deposed him yet) showed data on how UO had started inflating Hayward Field attendance numbers, presumably as part of their pitch to the IAAF, and was now trying to use those numbers to justify a larger stadium. He explained why a small stadium with space for temporary expansion makes more sense for Track and Field: most meets have about 6,000 spectators, which looks and feels silly for fans and athletes in a big stadium. He also had a fascinating explanation, with photos, for why fans love the East Grandstand bleacher seating so much: the state high school track meets run for 3 days, 9 hours a day, and the athletes can stretch out and nap with their families when they’re not on the field. I understand why people hire this guy to consult on stadiums.

Don Peting, Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Historic Preservation, showed the once secret 2016 preservation report on the East Grandstand, and explained that UO’s strategic communicators had been strategically mis-communicating lying about it. The Eugene Weekly has a report from Meerah Powell on the truth here.

Robert Melnick, Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture, and a former dean of what is now known as the COD, presented some inaccurate information about the campus planning process, stating it requires meetings of the Campus Planning Committee before approval of major construction. Actually, as amended by some former UO president – I think Frohnmayer – it explicitly allows the president to declare a project as not subject to input from the CPC or anyone but him or herself and the donor. President Schill has made this declaration for the Hayward Field teardown/replacement.

Prof Otto Poticha, Architecture, had more useful information. He has been in contact with the city Planning and Development Department, and reports that they have approved UO’s demolition permit and plan to issue it Friday or early next week. He explained that as soon as it is issued UO can bring in the bulldozers, at which point further public opposition to the teardown is moot. Yes there may be lead paint issues, and yes UO may have to pay a fine for not dealing with them, but that will be post-hoc.

However, Bob Penny wrapped up the meeting by noting that the teardown is not yet a done deal.

First, it would be a problem to bulldoze the grandstand this Monday or Tuesday, given that the NCAA championships start on Wednesday and run through Saturday. So next Sunday would be the earliest plausible day for starting the demo.

Second, it appears that Phil Knight may be having second thoughts on the teardown. Ken Goe reported in the Oregonian yesterday:

I’m hearing from multiple sources that several personal appeals have been made in recent days to Nike co-founder Phil Knight by people who know and respect him. They want the modern design scrapped in favor of one that would address the world championships requirements while preserving the the current look of Hayward as much as possible. Knight and wife, Penny, are lead donors for the reconstruction.

And as it happens President Schill is off to Portland tomorrow.

For more info check the East Grandstand Supporters Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/haywardfield2021/ and for more docs see http://billhaywardspeaks.com

Hayward Field teardown public info meeting Th May 31st at 7PM, Agate Hall

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UO will permanently close 15th, build plaza for Slusher’s Schlong. The RG has the story here,

With the usual PR flack BS:

Closing East 15th Avenue would result in the loss of 115 parking spaces used by students, employees and visitors, said UO spokeswoman Molly Blancett.

“Based on our most recent evaluations, we have a net surplus of parking spaces today and can absorb this change,” she said.

In other news, the formerly historic Bill Hayward now has an anti-teardown website, here.

Hayward Field teardown public info meeting Th May 31st at 7PM:

No, of course the UO Foundation is not hosting a public event to explain what’s going on, what with the FBI investigation of the IAAF bidding process still underway. This is from the teardown opponents:

Hayward Field East Grandstand Public Information Evening

FACILITATED BY: East Grandstand Supporters

EVENT: East Grandstand Public Information Evening PLACE: Agate Hall, 1787 Agate Street
DATE: Thursday, May 31, 2018
TIME: 7-8:30pm

TOPIC: Presentation, speakers, and interactive conversation about the Hayward Field renovation project and concerns about the East Grandstand, including discussion regarding public process, campus and neighborhood impacts, historic preservation, design, and potential impacts to the sport of track and field. The meeting is offered to provide the public with the information needed to better understand the scope and impact of this project, and how citizens can contribute to the public discussion.

SPEAKERS:
Peter John Thompson (former IAAF coach)
Robert Melnick, Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture UO
Don Peting, Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Historic Preservation UO James Tice, Professor of Architecture UO
with other notable legal, sport, and architectural contributors.

WHO ARE WE? East Grandstand Supporters advocate for the retention of the East Grandstand and its rehabilitation as the historic cornerstone of a fully renovated, state-of-the-art Hayward Field design. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/haywardfield2021/

The university’s strategy seems to be to get the trees cut and the grandstand bulldozed quick, given the potential for indictments to cause people to think twice about what the hell is going on.

Video of UO’s initial pitch to the IAAF here:

And follow the Track and Field link below for more history and documents.