LET TERS
It is my opinion that dog owners are
about the most inconsiderate people on
earth. Do they feel because they are so
special to own a dog that others should
clean up after them, like spoiled-brat
teenagers? Grow up and be responsible!
Thomas Kopriva
Eugene
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
In his Jan. 9 analysis “Incompatible
Infi ll,” Eben Fodor argues against Eugene
allowing small lots and alley-access
homes. He asserts these changes will
automatically cause developers to ruin
neighborhoods.
Not necessarily. Look at examples in
older downtown neighborhoods. Some
years ago, I owned the house at 109 W.
17th Ave. The lot is 40 by 67, a total of
2,680 sq. ft. There is a two-story home
of about 1,000 sq. ft. on the lot. It looks a
VIEWPOINT
little sad now. The last owner died and the
house fell into foreclosure, but that home
was owner-occupied and well maintained
a few years ago. The yard is small but
had room for what was once a wonderful
garden. Someone clearly loved that house.
Walk the neighborhood around 17th and
Olive. Other lots are as small or smaller.
One with a tiny house is 40 by 33 for a
total lot size of 1,320 sq. ft., much smaller
than the new proposed minimum. Still it
is a nice neighborhood. Many homes are
owner-occupied. Smaller lots and houses
allow more people to afford their homes.
Check it out. Walk through the alleys
to see hidden-away homes. Look at what
works and make standards that allow small
homes on small lots. People living in little
houses are good neighbors, too. Welcome
them.
Nancy Nichols
Deadwood
DEMORALIZING GAMES
The Mapleton School Board is
expressing our outrage at the very real
problem of vast point disparity in girls’
basketball contests, as evidenced by Regis’
trouncing of Waldport 100-7 on Jan. 3 and
Triangle Lake’s pummeling of Mohawk,
109-16 on Jan. 7. This is a national trend
affecting both girls’ and boys’ athletics. It
must be not only addressed, but resolved.
Wherever actions occur that do not uphold
basic standards of proper conduct, i.e.,
good sportsmanship, it is the responsibility
of the “adults in the room” to appropriately
solve the problem.
John Johnson, communications director
for the Michigan High School Athletic
Association, states, “The primary purpose
of public school sports is to educate kids.
That’s what makes us different from
colleges and the pros. There is nothing to
be learned in these blowout games. No one
HORRIBLE AGREEMENTS
Regarding Jerry Ritter’s letter of Dec.
26: If you are concerned about there not
being enough “illegals” in the U.S. you
can blame the Obama administration. It
deported more people than all previous
BY JOYCE BERM A N
Why Civic Matters
A PLACE WHERE COMMUNITY SPIRIT SHINED
R
ecently, a new transplant to Eugene asked
me why people are so emotional about Civic
Stadium. What follows is my note to my new
friend, Austin.
I don’t know when you moved to Eugene
but my guess is that it was after Civic Stadium
was wrapped in mothballs and allowed to decay.
It wasn’t that long ago that the Eugene Emeralds
played in Civic Stadium every summer, that South
Eugene High School’s baseball team trained and could
feel like the big boys there and that other important
events (I can think of the tribute after 9/11) brought
people together for recognition or celebration.
But unlike Autzen Stadium or Mac Court, Civic
Stadium represents, to me, at least, the place where
Eugene (not UO) came together to celebrate our own
home team, our own community. This was where
beautiful summer nights, baseball and families
converged to cheer on a home-grown sports team,
support local ice cream parlors and restaurants and be
amazed by a scoreboard being changed by humans, not
computers. The stadium was ours — our community’s,
not the university’s. It was one of the few places where
Eugene felt unifi ed, assembled from every walk of life
with a ticket that cost $5, to thrill over a stolen base or
a good catch, without the sports hype and hysteria that
has now overtaken our town.
It was a place where our kids could wander around
unchaperoned, being kids. So many of the attendees
walked to Civic on foot it seemed like our own
neighborhood sandlot. It was small enough that we
didn’t feel like we were in the Roman Colosseum, but
big enough that when the crowd roared, there was some
there there.
Every Fourth of July, Civic transformed itself into
the place to celebrate our nation’s birthday and our
independent spirit. Folks were actually encouraged
to hop the fence after the game, bring a blanket and
watch the fi reworks right out there on the grass, where
just minutes before, home plate had been the center of
6
should be embarrassed in high school.’’
We will no longer remain silent, thereby
tacitly endorsing this glaring reality that
undermines healthy competition. We
remain committed to working with the
Oregon Student Activities Association
(OSAA) to develop a solution that ensures
resolution, acknowledging our mutual
responsibilities as advocates for all students.
Neither winners nor losers benefi t from
the results of such poor and demoralizing
behavior. We can and must do better.
Michelle Holman
Mapleton School Board Chair
Deadwood
J a n u a r y 16 , 2 014 • e u g e n e w e e k l y . c o m
attention, not the stars and the sky.
I bet you have never sat in Civic’s bleachers on a
warm, summer evening, watching the moon rise over
the best view of the east hills that money can buy. The
view from those stands while you sat and ate popcorn
and cheered for your home team with your friends and
family — it would take your breath away.
The stadium was a place where the best of Eugene’s
community spirit shined — the interest in a level playing
fi eld, the importance of substance over superfi cial, the
support for youth, athletics, family and recreation and
keeping the fi ner things in life accessible for everyone,
and local.
When Pat Kilkenny came to town and decided that it
wasn’t worth the UO’s dime to invest money into fi xing
up what so many of us loved, but to build a new, sterile,
concrete facility, with blaring noise and artifi cial turf,
plopped into the middle of a parking lot that nobody
walked to, people felt insulted.
It showed that a rich guy from San Diego could
make a questionable decision with little input that could
strip away ourdear Ems and our community spirit. Our
community spirit! For what reason? For keeping UO’s
athletic facilities “centralized,” regardless of what our
community loved.
That community spirit is embodied in the history
of Civic Stadium. The stadium was built and fi nanced
during the Great Depression by the townspeople.
In the middle of the darkest days of unemployment
and poverty, Eugene aspired to raise enough money
to construct a place to alleviate all that pain. Those
dreams were actually realized by hard work, sweat and
determined effort in the midst of a huge crisis — an
amazing feat and a testament to Eugene’s grit.
Let’s also not forget that the old-growth timber that
undergirds the stadium is irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind,
and a hat-tip to the industry that built Eugene. That’s
Eugene’s history, that’s its story. When people start
stripping away the history, the spirit and the soul of a
community for the sake of money and what some people
supposedly call “progress” then yes, some people might
get emotional.
I have likened this to Jimmy Stewart’s fi ght in the
movie It’s a Wonderful Life. The movie’s premise is that
the town of Bedford Falls might have been completely
ruined if Jimmy Stewart’s character — one person —
died. Well, Eugene’s soul may be lost and we might as
well start calling Eugene Potterville if our school board
can disassemble the work of those incredible souls
who came together to create something lasting for our
community in the darkest days of the Depression.
4J was handed the Civic property for $1 as a
community trust for the purposes of youth and
community recreation. It is a violation of that trust to
sell it for a use other than that which it was intended.
If there were no potential for this incredible
landmark, I might believe that tearing it down would
be reasonable. But the facts tell a different story. There
is enormous possibility for Civic to be used as a soccer
facility. The Timbers are interested in a minor league
team. The Timbers have been wildly successful in
Portland, soccer is one of the fastest growing sports,
and Eugene’s soccer community has exhibited strong
interest. Check out how much money the Timbers
have pumped into the local economy of Portland and
see if there might not be a reason to believe that this
“albatross” could actually be Eugene’s newest sports
venue and an economic engine for sports tourism.
Coupled with a new YMCA, the property could be a
boon for youth, recreation and creative preservation
and reuse.
Time, money, sweat, a unifi ed vision for Civic’s
future and leadership are what is missing right now.
Instead, the 4J School Board is marching forward to
“unload” this “surplus property” for a quick buck after
already rejecting similar proposals after signifi cant
community outcry.
Yes, Austin, I am emotional. I hope you will be too.
For the history, the community, the soul and the future
of our fair city, I hope many others will get emotional
as well.
Joyce Berman has lived in Eugene since 1996 and has been active in public
affairs through leadership roles for The Science Factory, Save Civic Sta-
dium, and the successful bond campaign for the Eugene Public Library. She
and her family are currently living in Washington, D.C., on a temporary
work assignment.