A group seeking to preserve Civic Stadium, the former home to PCL and NWL baseball in Eugene, Oregon, has a new game plan to save the WPA-era facility.
The local school district owns the ballpark and has been seeking a use for it ever since the Eugene Emeralds (short season A; Northwest League) moved to PK Park. Attempts to sell it to a developer and to the local Y fell short, leaving the old wood-frame ballpark to sit empty.
A local group has pitched a renovated Civic Stadium as home to soccer in the city, and has a survey indicated the community would attend games there. It will be one option for the school board, which has separately retained a consultant to evaluate uses for the property, which could include being the site of a new middle school.
The issue is the same as it was three years ago when the future of the ballpark was first under debate: How to preserve the ballpark in a financially feasible way. The local nonprofit seeking to bring in soccer to a renovated facility doesn’t have much money, and the local school district is still facing some serious financial issues.
RELATED STORIES: Shining knight to save Civic Stadium?; Eugene: We’re not spending money on Civic Stadium; Developer: We’ll move Civic Stadium if that’s what it takes; Eugene residents: Save Civic Stadium; Another option emerges for Civic Stadium: strip mall!; Developers withdraw plan to renovate Civic Stadium; future of ballpark in doubt; Eugene School Board puts Civic Stadium on the market; Glickman to assist in Civic Stadium preservation effort; Eugene debates future of historic Civic Stadium; Group proposing renovation of Civic Stadium
—-
Share your news with the baseball community. Send it to us at editors@augustpublications.com.
Are you a subscriber to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter? You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!
Follow Ballpark Digest on Google + and add us to your circles!