L
o
egends and Lore
HUGH BARTON
A “mellow, terrific”
crowd fills the
Cuthbert Amphitheatre.
Story by Aria Seligmann
Cuthbert Amphitheatre upgrades amenities and
programming, but retains its mellifluous note.
sed to be you could hop on
your bike, cruise across the
Ferry Street Bridge, alight
upon a nice patch of grass
in Alton Baker Park’s ver-
dant fields, reach into your backpack, pull
out your blanket, your six-pack of Corona,
your pocket knife, your lime, and watch
the moon rise as you listened to tunes
floating over from Cuthbert Amphitheatre
— for free.
Then one year, the city, which owns the
Cuthbert, wised up. Suddenly, freeloaders
— on bike, foot or rollerblade — were
confronted with loud orange fences block-
ing the within-earshot acreage, forcing
them to buy a ticket to Cuthbert shows
(except those who floated along the
Millrace into the backstage area by raft or
canoe).
At the same time, inside the amphithe-
atre, the “no outside food/no outside drink
rule” was instituted, forcing said mooches
to buy onsite vendor vittles.
U
20 JUNE 5, 2003
Remember the brouhaha over baby bot-
tles?
And the ensuing rules: OK with the
Evenflo and Evian, but only if the water
bottle seal was unbroken. Backpacks got
checked. Confiscated were that pocket
knife and illegal lime.
Today’s airline security could take a
lesson.
“Would you please mention that rule
lasted for only one show?”
Reverie interruptus.
That’s Karm Hagedorn, events manag-
er for the city’s Cultural Services Division,
which oversees the Hult and Cuthbert. “I
still have people call and ask about bring-
ing food in,” she says.
In fact, yes, you can bring your home-
made pasta salad — as long as it’s not in
glass — along with your Carmen’s and
Toby’s. No homebrews though — only
alcohol purchased on site is allowed.
(Outside alcohol has never been allowed
in Cuthbert Amphitheatre or anywhere in
Alton Baker Park.)
And backpacks will still get checked,
so you still have to leave your wine cool-
ers and those pocketknives at home, along
with steak knives, butcher knives and box
cutters.
But the security process for checking
your contraband cutlery will be much
faster and smoother this summer than in
the past, thanks to a year-long effort by
Hult staff to “enhance the Cuthbert experi-
ence” by making everything about the
venue more “patron-friendly.”
“After last year and during last season
when looking at the way crowds lined up
and entered and the way we managed
crowds and the facility, we thought about
new ways to make things more efficient,”
says Mark Loigman, director of operations
for the city of Eugene Cultural Services
Division.
All of the changes instituted are meant
to “keep folks happy and having a good
time,” he says.
The New Cuthbert
First, it’s going to be easier to find the
place.
Three large directional signs have been
erected to get audiences into Cuthbert from
the Autzen side on Centennial Blvd.
Once in, patrons will find two parking
changes. It will be easier to park, but it will
also cost. More staff will be in place to help
direct people to parking spaces in the Alton
Baker Park lot and across the street at Autzen
Stadium. Staff will collect the $5 entrance
fee (mandated by the city, not the Hult) as
soon as motorists turn onto Leo Harris Pkwy.
For those who wish to avoid that fee, the
bicycle parking will be expanded.
OK, so you’ve found the place, you’ve
paid to park, and you’re walking in, schlep-
ping your cooler, your blanket, your lawn
chairs, your videocamera, your kids.
You’ve got a long haul over the bridge to
the venue and your arms are already tired.
Good news: A new horde of volunteers will
now greet you as you go.