Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon
From Archiplanet
| Autzen Stadium | |
| Designer | Skidmore Owings and Merrill-SOM |
| Location | Eugene, Oregon, USA |
| Date | 1967 to 2002 |
| Climate | Mild Temperate |
| Context | Small Town or City |
| Architectural Style | Modern |
| Street Address | |
| Notes | Football seating capacity 54,000 |
Contents |
[edit] Images
[edit] Discussion
| Building Details | |
| Cost | $2.5 million original, $80 million expansion |
Autzen Stadium
Autzen Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Located north of the University of Oregon campus, it is the home field of the Oregon Ducks of the Pacific-10 Conference. Originally opened in 1967, the stadium has undergone several expansions. The official capacity is 54,000, though official attendance has exceeded capacity for every game since 2002.
History
Prior to 1967, the Ducks played at Hayward Field. Recognizing that the football team had outgrown that facility, Oregon athletic director Leo Harris led a campaign to build a new stadium on that he had acquired for the purpose in the 1950s.
The stadium, designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, was built within an artificial crater to eliminate the need for multilevel ramps. As a result, construction took just nine months and cost approximately $2.5 million. $250,000 was contributed by the Autzen Foundation, headed by Portland lumberman Thomas J. Autzen, for whom the stadium was named. Thomas J. Autzen is actually an alumnus of Oregon State University. His donation to the University of Oregon is linked to his son's attendance at the school during the late 1930s and early 1940s.
On September 23, 1967, Oregon hosted Colorado in the first game played at Autzen Stadium, with Colorado defeating the Ducks 17–13. Oregon won their first game in the new facility on October 21 of that year, defeating Idaho 31–6 in their only home victory of the season.
The stadium alternates with Reser Stadium at Oregon State University in hosting the Civil War game between Oregon and Oregon State.
Renovations
In 1988, a $2.3 million renovation built a new press box on the south side of the stadium and converted the original north side press box to luxury suites. The renovation was designed by architecture firm Ellerbe Becket.
In 1995, the field was named Rich Brooks Field, after the Ducks' coach from 1977 to 1994. Brooks led Oregon to its first outright Pac-10 championship, and its first Rose Bowl appearance in 37 years, in his last season. Brooks left Oregon after the 1994 season to become head coach of the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He is currently head coach at the University of Kentucky.
In 2002, a $90 million facelift and expansion added seating and luxury boxes to the south sideline, bringing the stadium seating capacity up to its current level..
In 2007, the large yellow "O" was added onto the south end of the stadium exterior when ESPN's College GameDay was on location. That season, "Gameday" originated two of its Saturday shows from Eugene.
In 2008, a new, 33-by-85-foot high-definition LED scoreboard and replay screen -- known as DuckVision or "Duckvision 2.0"-- was installed; it replaced the original video screen installed prior to the 1998-1999 football season. It is the largest video screen in the Pac-10.
College GameDay returned to Eugene on October 31, 2009, for Oregon's match against USC. Lee Corso correctly chose the Oregon Duck as his mascot of choice for his main game pick.
Stadium records
The Ducks have a current streak of 66 straight sellouts at Autzen Stadium, dating back to the 1999 season. The highest attendance at Autzen was 59,592 on October 31, 2009, when the Ducks beat the University of Southern California Trojans, 47–20. This stands as the largest crowd for a sporting event in the state of Oregon.
From 1997 to 2001, the Ducks had a 23-game home winning streak at Autzen Stadium. The streak ended with a 49–42 loss to Stanford.
| Autzen Stadium Attendance Records | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Attendance | Date | ||
| 1 | USC | 59,592 | 10/31/2009 | |
| 2 | Arizona State | 59,379 | 11/03/2007 | |
| 3 | USC | 59,277 | 10/27/2007 | |
| 4 | California | 59,273 | 09/29/2007 | |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 59,269 | 09/16/2006 | |
| 6 | USC | 59,129 | 09/24/2005 | |
| 7 | Oregon State | 59,050 | 12/01/2007 | |
| 8 | Michigan | 59,023 | 09/20/2003 | |
| 9 | California | 58,975 | 09/26/2009 | |
| 10 | Washington | 58,778 | 08/30/2008 | |
Location and configuration
The stadium is located just north of the Willamette River, next to Alton Baker Park. Students typically walk to the stadium from the University of Oregon campus over the Autzen Footbridge, which passes over the Willamette, then through Alton Baker Park. The FieldTurf playing field is at an elevation of above sea level and is laid out in a non-traditional east-west orientation, slightly skewed so that players will not have the sun shining in their eyes in late fall.
Crowd noise
Autzen is known for its crowd noise. On October 27, 2007, during a 24–17 defeat of the USC Trojans, a record crowd of 59,277 fans was recorded at 127.2 decibels. A similarly-loud 31–27 upset of third-ranked Michigan in 2003 prompted a Michigan Daily columnist to write
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr later said that Autzen Stadium was the loudest stadium he'd ever been in.
In 2006, a Sporting News columnist named Autzen the most intimidating college football stadium in the nation.
Lee Corso of ESPN College Gameday frequently says that; "Per person Autzen Stadium is the loudest stadium that I have ever been in my entire life!"Ducks, You Need To Read These « OneClickSportsBlog
Jahvid Best, a starting running back for the California Golden Bears said of his game in 2007 at Autzen Stadium, "The biggest thing I remember about that game is the crowd. The crowd noise is crazy up there. Honestly, any other away game I don't really even hear the crowd. Oregon was the only place where it really got on my nerves."
As a head coach for the California Golden Bears, Jeff Tedford said, "Their fans are so educated that they're really prepared as far as when to make noise and when not to make noise. You can quiet some crowds down if you score early and things like that. Not in Autzen. They're going to keep roaring the whole game, that's just the way they are."
Other uses
Autzen Stadium is the largest sports arena in the state of Oregon. It hosts football camps and coaches' clinics, marching band competitions and musical concerts, including U2 and numerous performances by the Grateful Dead. State high-school football championship games were played at Autzen Stadium until 2006. Four Eugene high schools played their home football games in the stadium between 1969 and 2001. Autzen Stadium was also used as the location for the fictional Faber College football stadium in the 1978 movie National Lampoon's Animal House.
References
External links
- Sports-Venue.com - Autzen Stadium - Info and Photos
- Goducks.com - Official Autzen Stadium Information
