The City Council and the Eugene Emeralds (High-A; Northwest League) will split the cost of a $500,000 study to determine the feasibility of a new Medford ballpark as well as upgrades to Harry & David Field.
Last November voters approved a hike in the local hotel tax, up to 2 percent, to back Creekside Quarter (above), an ambitious downtown development built around a conference center, a new Medford ballpark, the usual convention amenities (hotel and restaurants), office space and residential. Using a hike in the hotel tax is a popular tool for raising revenues in a painless way: like car taxes, pretty much only tourists and insurance companies pay the hotel tax.
There was a catch, though: the proceeds of the bonding could not be used to fund a new ballpark, leaving those costs to the public sector (in a separate move), a developer and/or a team owner, in this case Ems owner owner D.G. Elmore. Still, with the possibility of landing a Minor League Baseball team and the Ems in need of a new home, the city and the team decided to split the study of a feasibility study from KNO Construction and DLR Group. The study is expected to be completed by October.
In the process, however, another catch emerged: the study would also assess the suitability of Harry & David Field upgrades to meet MiLB standards. Harry & David Field opened in 2005 after the demise of a Northwest League team when that circuit was Short Season A, specially built and approved to host summer-collegiate baseball. It was later renovated in 2013 for the Medford Rogues, now a member of the Pacific Empire League.
While Eugene is one of baseball’s great traditional markets, hosting Pacific Coast League ball for decades before easing into Short Season A play and eventually the Northwest League, the Emeralds have faced a slew of issues in meeting MLB’s new MiLB facility standards, kicking off in 2025. The Emeralds played for decades at Civic Stadium before moving to PK Park on the University of Oregon campus. On the fan side PK Park is a perfectly lovely facility on the fan side, but it lacks the player amenities–like no visitors clubhouse, food-prep facilities and training spaces–demanded these days by Major League Baseball. The Ems attempted to put together a new-ballpark plan on Lane County fairgrounds land, but the move was rejected by voters, leading to today’s present situation.
Rendering courtesy of City of Medford.
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