Growing up in Portland, the City of Roses fielded a Triple-A baseball team known as the Portland Beavers. We'd all go the games at Multnomah Stadium in the summer when we were kids. The Beavers were a minor league team that groomed future players in the Cleveland Indians organization.
As a teenager, I worked concessions at Beaver games, shagging peanuts for fans. We had the opportunity to see such future stars as Lou Pinella, Luis Tiant, Tommie Agee, Duke Sims and "Sudden" Sam McDowell as they worked their way into the big leagues.
Moving to Eugene, we often went to Eugene Emeralds games at Civic Stadium. On warm summer nights, the iconic scene was straight out of Field of Dreams, a baseball wonderland. Eventually the old stadium couldn't accommodate the team anymore. Eventually, the structure burned down in a fire.
The Eugene Emeralds had moved to the University of Oregon's PK Park. The team played its games there as a short-season Single-A club. Now, the Ems have been upgraded to a long-season Single-A team, so they won't be able to play in PK Park anymore because of conflicts with the UO baseball team.
The team's owners are looking for a new venue and after considering a number of options, have started to focus on the Lane County Fairgrounds as a possible venue for a new stadium. Some funding has already been secured, and many residents are on board. A few, however, are not.
Inspired by the prospect of a new stadium for the Eugene Emeralds, I wrote a letter to the editor to the Eugene Register-Guard after reading a news story where a few neighbors near the Lane County Fairgrounds voiced their concerns. The R-G then published the letter.
To the editor:
"As a resident of the Jefferson Westside neighborhood, I believe a new baseball stadium at the fairgrounds would be a win-win for the neighborhood and Eugene-Springfield.
The site has been underutilized of late and the Eugene Emeralds would provide a positive economic impact while keeping the Ems in Lane County. Sure, a few neighbors will complain about noise or lack of parking, but the fairgrounds already provide facilities for 'events.'
The Lane Events Center, home of the fair and other year-round events, festivals and trade shows, features a variety of halls, an ice arena, and livestock building that can entertain almost any type of event. The fairgrounds already provide plenty of parking spaces.
Those who would say the baseball facility won’t work in the middle of any neighborhood only need look so far as the old Civic Stadium, which happened to be in the middle of a neighborhood.
The Eugene Emeralds organization seems willing to bend over backwards to listen to feedback from neighbors. I say we play ball with Allan Benavides and make a new stadium a reality at the Lane County Fairgrounds."
We'll see what happens in the coming months as the organization continues to build consensus with neighbors and seeks more funding in order to make a new stadium a reality. One thing's for sure, if they build it, people will come.
