© 2024 KLCC

KLCC
136 W 8th Ave
Eugene OR 97401
541-463-6000
klcc@klcc.org

Contact Us

FCC Applications
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Hayward Field's Legacy Carries On Through Repurposed Artifacts, Materials

Obie Companies

Hayward Field at the University of Oregon was renovated beginning in 2018.  Now parts of its history live on through salvaged remnants.

Credit Brian Bull / KLCC
/
KLCC
In this photo from June 2018, crews began tearing down the East Grandstand at the U of O's Hayward Field facility.

Excavators razed several old structures during the $200 million renovation. Several groups now have pieces of that legacy.

Obie Companies President Brian Obie said it’s part of their 5th Street Market expansion:

“We were fortunate enough to be granted steps out of the old stadium.  We will make benches out of those, it’ll be close to the Nike Store," Obie told KLCC. 

Credit University of Oregon
Directional signs from Powell Plaza, shown in this undated photograph prior to the demolition of the East Grandstand.

"We also have some directional signs from what was known next to Hayward Field as Powell Plaza. And they’ll be on walls adjacent to the Hayward Room on the second floor of the Gordon Hotel.”

And Andrew Martz of the Eugene Airport said they’re partnering with the Oregon Track Club on a display by the baggage claim.

”Planking where you can see some of the athletes’ spike marks and some of the old presidential box seats," said Martz, emphasizing that currently the project is still in its conceptual phase. "A real clear vision of just how important track and field is to Eugene and to the region.”

15 groups and individualshave been allocated materials from Hayward Field, through a community application process.

Copyright 2021, KLCC.

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.
Related Content