In August 2022, Eugene Civic Alliance finished the $30 million Phase I capital campaign for Civic Park, the Kidsports Fieldhouse and Market of Choice Field. Take a moment and let that sentence sink in. Wow.

With the incredibly generous support from all of you, the Phase I capital campaign for Civic Park has been completed and is now fully funded and debt free. ECA can’t thank you enough for helping us to get to this historic finish line.

Highlights of the race to the finish line for completion of Phase I saw final contributions to the $30M capital campaign delivered this past July, which gave ECA the ability in August to pay off a construction loan needed to get the facility built during the chaotic and challenging times of the pandemic.

The achievement of realizing a fully funded Phase I sets and secures the legacy of Civic Park to deliver high quality programs and host community events for years to come. This accomplishment is a tribute to all of you who gave in so many wonderful ways to transform a vision into a reality. Civic Park now has a new story to tell the world and you have helped us to write it. Here are some of the first exciting chapters:

• Since opening Civic Park in June 2020, 115,000+ visitors have visited Civic Park, the Kidsports Fieldhouse and Market of Choice Field.
• Kidsports, despite the pandemic, was able to serve 25,000 children and families through the fall, winter, spring, and summer by delivering healthy, active programs in a secure and safe Kidsports Fieldhouse and Market of Choice Field.
• Civic Park hosted community fundraising dinners and events, celebration of life services, Lane United Soccer League Games, Bushnell University soccer games, high school soccer and ultimate Frisbee teams, as well as adult basketball, kickball, pickleball, and volleyball. People, big and small, played and had fun!

Your contributions – from all 600 of you – have directly helped to change and shape thousands of lives here at Civic Park through the pursuit of healthy, active games, programming, and events that serve to enhance our community’s physical, social, emotional, and collective wellbeing.

THANK YOU!

In 1938, Eugeneans came together to chip in and build the original Civic Stadium. For decades, it was a gem in the heart of the city. Now, it’s our time to step forward and finish building the new Civic. Together, we are building a healthier community for people of all ages.

One Saturday in March 2015, KIDSPORTS Director Bev Smith walked into the Lane Events Center gym and looked up. Rain was leaking through the roof onto the old wooden courts purchased years ago by the county from colleges around the country. Knowing she was about to disappoint hundreds of kids, she nonetheless had to cancel a series of basketball games.

In a city with collegiate sports facilities that are a point of community pride, indoor youth basketball games are being rained out. How did we get here?

The 15,000 children who play in KIDSPORTS every year, along with many other youth and adult sports organizations, face a shortage of decent gyms and fields.

“The pickings are slim in the Eugene area for available gyms, and those that are available are in very poor condition, small, and not appropriately equipped,” Smith says.

“The most competitive sport in town is coaches trying to schedule gym time.”

We need KIDSPORTS and other recreational leagues more than ever. Typical elementary school students in Eugene receive one hour of physical education per week. Lane County’s obesity rates, for both children and adults, have been on the rise.

“The plans we have for Civic aren’t about something that would be ‘nice to have,’” Smith says. “This is fundamental to our ability to raise healthy kids and have them grow into active adults. I’m not talking about training elite athletes. We’re talking about basic physical skills and habits everyone should learn by the time they are 11 or 12. Today, without enough functional, available space to play, most kids miss out on what is truly the most cost effective and practical form of health care.

“We can’t fail them.”

In 2015, Eugene Civic Alliance raised $4.1 million to purchase the historic 10-acre Civic Stadium site. Since then, we’ve continued to raise money to begin the construction of Phase 1. It is almost complete! Phase 2 will add the 2,500 seat stadium, with an upper concourse, a scoreboard, and additional restrooms. Once fundraising and construction are complete, our new sports and recreation complex will represent the architectural renderings shown above.

Civic Park carries on the legacy of Civic Stadium by providing a space for the public to enjoy sports and community recreation while fostering economic development and improving access to gym and field space.