Hayward Field Renovations Planned for August 2016
Hayward Field Renovations Planned for August 2016
After Track Town USA hosts it's sixth U.S. Olympic Team Trials in July, Historic Hayward Field will undergo massive renovations
After Track Town USA hosts it's sixth U.S. Olympic Team Trials in July, Historic Hayward Field will undergo massive renovations, the University of Oregon Foundation announced today. The OU Foundation, a non-profit organization that handles university gifts, is managing the project.
According to the OU Foundation, "The design vision entails the renovation of the east grandstand to modern standards, while preserving the original character of the historic building. Additionally, the project will rebuild the rest of the venue as a world-class, high-performance athletic and academic facility." Currently the University of Oregon Physiology Department is located in the Bowerman Building next to the west grandstand. The OU Foundation plans to demolish that building and completely transform the west grandstand into larger and more accessible seating, a brand new home for OU's Physiology Department, an updated indoor practice facility, as well as other new and necessary resources for athletes of Hayward Field.
The construction project is expected to last a year with the hopes of hosting the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Hayward's 15th stint as host.
Vin Lananna, the associate athletic director at Oregon, president of TrackTown USA and future head men's coach of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team spoke to Outside Magazine on December 9 about the Hayward renovation. Because Eugene was awarded the 2021 World Championships, the IAAF requires a seating capacity of 30,000. According to GoDucks.com, Hayward Field currently seats 10,500. Lananna said the renovation will bring Hayward up to between 11,500- 12,500 seats and the rest will be temporarily built for 2021.
"It’s difficult to do any great restoration project, any preservation of history, but we are very happy with what our architects and designers have done to make it a user-friendly facility, yet understanding and maintaining the history–not just knocking it down and building some new monstrosity that nobody would know what it is. People will know it’s Hayward Field."
According to the OU Foundation, "The design vision entails the renovation of the east grandstand to modern standards, while preserving the original character of the historic building. Additionally, the project will rebuild the rest of the venue as a world-class, high-performance athletic and academic facility." Currently the University of Oregon Physiology Department is located in the Bowerman Building next to the west grandstand. The OU Foundation plans to demolish that building and completely transform the west grandstand into larger and more accessible seating, a brand new home for OU's Physiology Department, an updated indoor practice facility, as well as other new and necessary resources for athletes of Hayward Field.
The construction project is expected to last a year with the hopes of hosting the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Hayward's 15th stint as host.
Vin Lananna, the associate athletic director at Oregon, president of TrackTown USA and future head men's coach of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team spoke to Outside Magazine on December 9 about the Hayward renovation. Because Eugene was awarded the 2021 World Championships, the IAAF requires a seating capacity of 30,000. According to GoDucks.com, Hayward Field currently seats 10,500. Lananna said the renovation will bring Hayward up to between 11,500- 12,500 seats and the rest will be temporarily built for 2021.
"It’s difficult to do any great restoration project, any preservation of history, but we are very happy with what our architects and designers have done to make it a user-friendly facility, yet understanding and maintaining the history–not just knocking it down and building some new monstrosity that nobody would know what it is. People will know it’s Hayward Field."