Crews start Autzen demolition
■A webcam will capture
all the action of the construction
by Marty Toohey'
for the Emerald .
Autzen Stadium is closed and the
Duck home schedule is finished,
but fans can still watch the action
taking place inside the arena.
The stadium expansion starts to
day after a three-month hiatus, and
a live-feed webcam will provide
continuous footage of the construc
tion work, including the demolition
of the press box and south end seat
ing canopy, according to Assistant
Athletic Director Steve McBride.
The University has received all
necessary construction permits and
awarded the contracts for the work,
and the expansion is still scheduled
for completion in Spring 2003.
Construction crews finished ba
sic structural work during the sea
son, but “the major work is about to
start,” McBride said.
Demolition of the canopy and
press box will finish-in two weeks.
Contractors will begin demolishing
the south side seating, he said.
The remodel calls for at least 32
luxury boxes in a new three-story
luxury suite/press box, which will be
constructed along the top of the south
rim of the stadium above a 20,000
square-foot all-purpose lounge. At
least 3,000 of the stadium’s 12,000
new seats will be located in a covered
section for preferred ticket holders,
and 2,000 preferred sideline seats
will be adjacent to the covered area.
The luxury boxes lease for
$30,000 a year, and Larson said they
are nearly sold out.
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McBride said that “there will be
significant demolition done before
the end of the school year, ” and that
when students return from winter
break, “there will be very noticeable
changes in the stadium. ”
The construction can be viewed at
http://autzen-webcam.uoregon.edu.
John Poston, the project’s lead archi
tect, said that aside from the renovation
of the south end, the most significant
part of the project will be a noticeable
entrance added to the stadium.
“The hallmark of the design is that
for the first time, Autzen will have
strong public image — a ‘front door,’
if you will,” Posten said. “This new
image will be especially strong for
those approaching from campus and
entering from the south. ” .
Posten’s firm, Ellerbe Becket, de
signed the Rose Garden in Portland and
has done renovations for football stadi
ums at the University of Notre Dame,
the University of Missouri and South
ern Methodist University. He said that
from a design perspective, renovations
and expansions are more challenging
than designing new buildings, because
“to be successful, there is a need to care
fully study the existing stadium. ’ ’
With construction crews working
into darkness six nights a week,
Autzen Stadium’s parking lot will be
enclosed by a fence and will be off
limits, according to McBride. The lot
entrance at the Kinsrow Avenue-Cen
tennial Boulevard traffic light will
also be closed for the first part of the
construction, meaning that people
using the Autzen Stadium footpath,
including students who walk or bike
to the University from nearby apart
ments, will have to circumvent the
lot entirely to get to the footpath.
The total expansion cost is now
estimated at $89.7 million, an in
crease of $9.7 million from the origi
nal budget. The $9.7 million in
crease will be covered through
donations, according to Tom Lar
son,. director of finance and con
tracts for the Athletic Department.
The University also recently re
ceived $29.4 million in state bonds
to pay for the project, which will be
repaid by donations over the next
10 years, Larson said.
The University will host a school
record eight home games in 2002
and averaged a school-record
45,093 fans each game this season.
In all, the seating stadium’s seating
capacity will increase from 41,698
to 53,800. The average stadium at
tendance has exceeded seating ca
pacity for five of the past six years.
Marty Toohey is a freelance reporter for the
Emerald.
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