Alton Baker: Development plans to redesign facilities
University plans athletic fields
The University’s resident red fox may soon be
forced to move to wilder pastures.
The fox lives on mice and rabbits that inhabit the
undeveloped land on the southbank of the Wil
lamette River across from Alton Baker Park. The
University, which purchased the land from Eugene
Sand and Gravel in June, 1968, is planning to build
athletic fields on the site, although original plans
designated the site as a potential parking lot.
What is now a sanctuary of 60 quiet acres of
blackberries, wildflowers, quail and pheasant,
would become the site for intramural softball or foot
ball games. The University’s tract is bounded on the
north by the Willamette River, on the south by rail
road tracks, on the west by the Eugene Water and
Electric Board steam plant, and on the east by Jud
kins Point.
Student money is financing the planning of the
development, and would be used if the athletic fields
are built. The money is drawn out of the student
building fees account, which all students pay into at a
rate of $12.50 per term.
The student building fees from each of the
state’s campuses are co-mingled in one large ac
count from which the State Board of Higher Educa
tion finances bonds to construct student facilities.
The Erb Memorial Union addition was built using
funds generated by the co-mingled building fees.
The University had originally hoped to begin
constmction on the athletic fields at the end of this
summer, but delays in awarding a planning contract
will most likely postpone the start of construction until
next spring.
The University signed a professional services
agreement with a Portland landscape architectural
firm that will study the site. The $13,000 study by the
McCarthur/Gardner partnership is expected to de
termine the cost to build the athletic fields and to
develop a master plan for the southbank site.
Once the preliminary cost estimates and plan
ning are completed, the University will have to re
quest authorization to build the fields from the state
emergency board. The emergency board must ap
prove the allocations of the funds.
“The University was authorized to make im
provements to the playing fields adjacent to Howe
Field at the same time that the Hayward Field grand
stand was authorized,” says J.l. Hunderup, vice
chancellor for facilities planning for the state board of
higher education.
The University was authorized to spend
$600,000 for the grandstand and $325,000 for play
ing field improvements. However, the grandstand
(which was financed from gift money to the Univer
sity) cost $900,000 to build and the playing field
improvements were not undertaken.
“We have never gone back to the emergency
board for additional authorization for the playing
fields," Hunderup says. “We would have to seek
authorization to spend the $325,000 at the south
bank site instead of next to Howe Field. The authori
zation could be denied.”
So the University’s resident fox shouldn’t start
packing just yet.
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Park scheduled for facelift
as 10th anniversary nears
Radical changes are in line for Alton
Baker Park as it nears its tenth an
niversary as a county park this sum
mer.
The 375-acre park extends along
three miles of the north bank of the
Willamette River. Eugene s Ferry
Street bridge is the west boundary and
Springfield forms the east boundary.
The concept for a park on the north
bank of the Willamette River began in
1951 when a Eugene Park study iden
tified the recreational potential of the
area.
At that time, the north bank was
largely brush-covered and periodi
cally flooded by the Willamette River.
Development of dams on the river sol
ved the flooding problem and a serious
effort to develop the park started in
1959.
By 1964 the University acquired the
property to build Autzen Stadium; the
city bought another 75 acres; and the
Eugene Water and Electric Board
committed land it controlled to the park
program.
The park was officially dedicated
July 30, 1967 and named for Alton
Baker, Sr., late publisher of the
Eugene Register-Guard, for his efforts
to establish the park.
The University owns the river s
south bank from the Ferry Street
Bridge to Judkins Point, the high ridge
just east of the University. Plans for
developing athletic fields on these 63
acres of the riverbank are being consi
dered by University officials.
The combined north and south bank
areas comprise the largest open space
area near downtown Eugene and cur
rently is only 10 per cent developed.
Some projects have already begun,
but others await funds. Pending grant
applications, if funded, would replace
the community gardens with a picnic
area; replace the filbert orchards with
an ornamental tree garden, and con
struct an aquatic center just east of
Interstate 5 and north of the canoe
waterway.
Lane County has applied for $3.2
million in grants from the federal
Economic Development Administra
tion (EDA) to pay for the projects. The
projects were not allocated funds this
year, but county officials intend to
reapply for grants. Other projects have
already received funds and construc
tion should begin this year.
One project calls for a new bike path
to parallel the waterway and jogging
path through the park from Springfield
to the boat basin in the park’s center. It
will be an alternate route to the winding
riverside bikepath.
“It’s not designed as a high-speed
bikepath, but it will offer a straight shot
across the park for bicycle commut
ers,” says Charles Schrader, director
of Lane County’s parks and open
space department.
“Eventually, I would like to see this
bike path continue along the north
bank of the park’s waterway to the west
edge of the park,’’ he adds. There were
approximately 1000 daily trips on the
existing bike path last year, he esti
mates.
Another project funded but not yet
contracted is construction of a new
group picnic center at the park's south
end near the Ferry Street Bridge.
Some of the gardens will be uprooted
to make way for 150 parking spaces
and picnic tables.
Picnic areas will also replace the
community gardens if EDA or Bureau
of Outdoor Recreation funding is forth
coming. The picnic area would occupy
the area just south of Day Island Road.
There are no plans for a community
garden elsewhere in the park.
The tree garden grant calls for the
development of an ornamental tree
plot on 35 acres of the park south of the
water gardens. The site is now oc
cupied by a filbert orchard.
“There was a discussion of the value
Stories by E G. WHITE-SWIFT
Of the Emerald
of the filbert trees and the reasons for
replacing them," Schrader says. "They
are short-lived trees, they require care
and treatment each year, and most of
them are old. They would be replaced
by trees requiring less care with more
aesthetic and recreational value for the
area."
State regulations mandate that old
orchards be maintained by landowners
to prevent insect predation in other or
chards. Schrader says that filbert trees
will be left in other parts of the parki
Schrader hopes that funds wilt be
come available this year for the prop
osed aquatic center. It would contains
fresh-water swimming "hole" just north
of the waterway and east of the 1-5
bridge.
The football-field sized swimming
hole would have concrete sides and a
sand bottom. Fresh water from the
waterway would be diverted into the
pool. A parking lot and children's re
creational equipment are also planned
for the area.
“We are trying to provide an open
space for people to do what they
choose," Schrader syas. “We do not
run a recreational part*.”
The park’s master plan was de
veloped several years ago by a
citizen's advisory committee that over
sees development of the park. It re
quested that the park be developed for
passive recreation — reading a book,
strolling through the woods, canoeing
or visiting a museum. The passive idea
was intended to eliminate the chal
lenge of competitive sports such as
tennis or basketball.
Future land use plans for the park
include construction of a new building
complex to house the Southwest
Museum of Science and Industry and a
planetarium. Funding for the project
was acquired, and construction of the
structures should begin later this year
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It will be located just north of the
canoe waterway on the west side of
Autzen Stadiu.
An area just north of Day Island
Road and west of KASH radio studios
will require extensive grading. There is
currently an open pit on the site, as
gravel was excavated for construction
of the Autzen Stadium parking lot. Park
officials plan to lower the grade in the
whole area to create a new natural
area.
Other long range plans include a
beach area just east of the Willamette
River footbridge, construction of a col
iseum for regional sports events, hor
ticultural display gardens, an outdoor
dining and dancing area by the boat
basin, and additional parking areas.
The rate of development of the park
will be determined by the allotment of
federal grants. There is also an Alton
Baker Park Foundation, which is work
ing to raise money privately to help
develop some aspects of the park.
The talk of aquatic centers, picnic
areas and athletic fields has upset
some area residents who believe the
park is best serving the needs of open
space in its present undeveloped
state.
At a recent Metropolitan Area Plan
ning Advisory Committee hearing sev
eral groups advocated for more atten
tion to natural open space values in
areas like Alton Baker Park
"Our organization believes that wild
life, vegetation, and wildlife habitat all
have a place in an urban setting," said
a letter from the Eugene-based South
ern Willamette Ornithological Club.
"These related elements add greatly to
the livability of our community. As the
population increases in our metropoli
tan region and as development pres
sures grow, valuable natural areas are
consumed.”
"We can no longer rationalize this
consumption of significant natural
areas by looking elsewhere outside the
region for a similar setting. We have an
obligation to preserve the diversity of
life within our own community."
University of Oregon biology profes
sor Stan Cook says that leaving Alton
Baker Park alone may be more desire
able in the future when there are fewer
natural areas in the metropolitan area.
“Some plants on the sandy floodp
lain there don't occur much in other
areas of the valley. Incense Cedar,
California Poppy, and buckbrush, orig
inally in abundance in the Willamette
Valley floodplain, are now being elimi
nated by development," he says.
"Developing Alton Baker Park on a
model of a high density central park
may be inevitable, but we may prefer it
in the future for its values as a natural
undisturbed area.”
Although park officials say that na
tive plantings are designated through
out the park's development, Cook
points out that even though some
areas are left intact, introduced
species in the developed areas might
out-compete the native plants in the
natural areas.
Eugene residents enjoy the
water and fields of Alton
Baker Park. The 375-acre
park is celebrating its tenth
anniversary as a county
park this summer. Projects
are now in the offing for im
proving and expanding the
park and its facilities. In
cluded in the plans are an
extended bikepath, park
ing spaces, picnic centers
and an ornamental tree
garden.
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EMU Breezeway
Center Commission
projects 18-month
complex deadline
By KEVIN HARDEN
Of the Emerald
Lane County and Eugene may see a new civic center facility
begin to take shape before January, 1979, according to the newly
formed Eugene Civic Center Commission.
At its first meeting Tuesday morning, the commission dis
cussed the possibility of beginning work on an auditorium-sports
complex within the next 18 months.
The commission was created last month by the Eugene city
council at the request of the Lane County Auditorium Association
(LCAA) to take over the civic center project. The 15-member
commission consists of representatives from city and county
governments and other interested organizations, including Uni
versity Pres. William Boyd.
Calling the meeting an “exciting morning,” Eugene Mayor
Gus Keller detailed the history of the civic center.
The project, which originated in 1963, has twice been rejected
by city voters he pointed out, once in 1972 and again in 1973. The
new commission, Keller said, should begin with a fresh concept
for the project and “propose to the people in the 1978 general
election something we’ve all been waiting for."
Former mayor and commission chairer Les Anderson exp
lained that it was important for commission members to keep an
open mind on the type of facility to be built. “It is our intent to make
this a community-wide program,” he said. “I personally like the
idea of a public facility. Of course that can refer to anything from a
rest room to a civic auditorium.”
Outlining a nine-phase commission work program, De
velopment Director Dean Baumgartner explained that it would be
necessary for the commission to hold several public hearings on
the proposal to determine the consensus of use by the public.
“For this project to succeed, it will be necessary to encom
pass enough of the wants of the public as well as the aesthetic
aspects,” he said.
The commission work program, which outlines the project
through time-limited steps of completion, covers every area of the
civic center proposal from background research to evaluating the
center’s potential impact. Baumgartner stressed the importance
of establishing a construction site as soon as possible, in order to
begin work on architectural plans.
Marketing and Feasibility studies for the project have already
been completed by the LCAA, according to Baumgartner. Money
estimates from those studies, he pointed out, would be higher
than the new commission would need to allow, due to the nature
of the LCAA proposal.
Funding for the project brought concern from several com
mission members. Eugene City Councilman Brian Obie said the
commission should start as early as possible to find sources of
money for the center.
According to the adopted work program, funding possibilities
wouldn't be explored until the eleventh week of the project. Other
funding, such as Federal Job Works Funds, National Endowment
for the Arts grants or public donations, will also be sought.
The commission's next step is to hire a consulting firm to
begin a market analysis for the project. Public hearings on the
proposal will also be scheduled in the next two weeks.
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Ron Lloyd