UO Athletics plans to break ground in 2024 to construct a new indoor practice field next to Autzen Stadium. They recently released plans for additional development in this area: the relocation of the two outdoor practice fields to the south of their current location. To accommodate this, Leo Harris Parkway would be re-routed to the south and the existing City-owned paved parking lot serving Eugene Science Center, Cuthbert Amphitheater, and Alton Baker Park guests would be relocated to the City-owned parkland/field east of the Eugene Science Center building.
For more information from University of Oregon, visit this website.
Artist rendering of the new indoor practice field, two outdoor practice fields, and the re-route of Leo Harris Parkway.
Proposed Re-Route of Leo Harris Parkway
Proposed Paved Parking Mitigation
Frequently Asked Questions
Tailgating (Updated 11/22/2023)
No, Eugene Science Center will not be displaced by the UO’s football expansion project.
Yes, we expect to continue to offer tailgate parking opportunities, but with a decreased capacity. The SF1 parking area will be transformed into a paved parking lot to replace the paved lot being displaced by the expansion. The SF2 and SF3 parking areas will have lower capacities. For information about specific parking areas, see the questions below.
We’ve been told that the construction of the paved parking areas around the science center will start in early 2024 and be completed prior to the 2024 football season. The re-routing of Leo Harris Parkway would occur in 2025 and be completed prior to the 2025 football season. Near real-time construction updates can be found HERE.
According to the most recent information we have, the new paved parking lot that is to be located in the current SF1 parking area will be completed in August 2024. We anticipate that the new parking lot will be utilized by UO on game day and will not be available for tailgating. When the SF1 parking area becomes unavailable for tailgating, season pass holders will have the opportunity to request a season parking pass in the SF2 or SF3 parking areas.
Construction of a small paved parking lot south of the building will reduce the parking capacity in SF2. We expect to still be able to offer tailgate parking spots in the grass field/western section of the SF2 area, including an area for RVs.
We anticipate that we will still be able to offer season parking passes for cars/regular vehicles in a new paved parking lot to be built north of the science center. We expect this will be at a lower capacity than what we currently offer, and all parking will be on the pavement rather than the grass. We will probably not be able to accommodate RV parkers north of the building once these changes take place, but will still offer RV parking in the SF2RV parking area on the south side of the science center.
Initial calculations suggest that we will not be able to accommodate all of our current season parkers in the remaining parking areas, assuming everyone wishes to renew. Should demand exceed supply, we will explore options for allocating season passes.
Yes. The current entry driveway will be eliminated and ESC tailgate parking areas will be accessed through the new paved parking lot. Vehicles would also exit through this parking lot. Plans for exactly what this will look like are still being developed.
We anticipate that our tailgate parking capacity will be met with season parking passes. In that case, single game parking passes will not be available, and we will not have any day of game sales.
Eugene Science Center Operations (Updated 2/15/2023)
Our understanding is that construction will begin sometime in 2024. We will keep you updated as we receive updates.
We thoroughly explored the possibility of relocating to the old EWEB headquarters building, but that was unrelated to UO’s construction projects. Our ambitions for the EWEB property would have changed the occupancy code of the buildings, which would have required a full seismic retrofit. The anticipated costs of the seismic retrofit put this project out of our reach without major philanthropic support in a very short amount of time. In January 2023, the City of Eugene announced plans to purchase the EWEB building for use as a new City Hall.
As of now, we do not anticipate being closed during the UO football expansion construction, but this is still an uncertainty as plans progress.
As of now, the new Outdoor EcoLab will not be affected and will remain on the water’s edge of our north pond.