Civic Stadium

Demolished

9/10

 

 

Approaching the park, the wooden facade with peeling paint lets you know what you're in for.

I wasn't as proficient at ballpark pics, but these two give you the general idea.

The long side of the L-shaped grandstand.

Back in 2009 for the last night game here ever against Salem-Keizer.

 We first attended Eugene's Civic Stadium in 2007 as part of a 3 game loop of the Northwest League, which was really our first ballparking trip. We had seen a game in Spokane the night previous and started off towards Yakima afterwards. I went again on the way home from my big 2009 loop for one last game, which turned out to be the 2nd last game and last night game for the Emeralds here. This drew over 5,000 people. Approaching, the park looks like something out of Bull Durham. A peeling wooden facade greets you on the way in.

The park is very simple, lots of wooden bench seating made up the bulk of this WPA era ballpark. There was nothing fancy or modern about this place, it was baseball, pure and simple. But, as much as I like wooden, WPA era bandbox style ballparks, there were some drawbacks about this park. 

 Firstly, food was difficult to buy here at best, there just weren't many concessions and the ones there were lined up quickly. Parking was almost non-existent, as the small parking lot was reflective of the time in which the stadium was built. The almost entirely wood construction made the park seem like a bit of a firetrap.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed this park. It was absolutely a baseball-first atmosphere, as a wooden ballpark from 1940 was hardly a place to be seen. There was really nothing distracting from the game, with the possible exception of an overly talkative neighbour. This place is a time machine, 9/10.

The Emeralds moved across town to the University of Oregon campus to share a park with a newly formed Ducks varsity team. Locals wanted to preserve this one, which was on the National Register of Historic Places. The plan included purchasing the stadium and renovating it somewhat so it could host lower tier soccer. Funding to buy the stadium was raised in the summer of 2015 and it looked like the plan would go ahead.


But, what I alluded to earlier became a reality that same year. Several youths, playing with matches in the press box, managed to set a fire, which quickly spread out of control, and destroyed the stadium in about an hour. Throngs of people turned out to watch the local institution burn to the ground. The "Friends of Civic Stadium" are planning to use the money they raised towards something similar, but haven't decided what as of yet. It was disappointing to hear about their dream dying the way it did, but I'm interested to see what plans they come up with as an alternative.

Update 2018: I've added the linescores of the two games I went to here. I cannot find any more information about the plans for the stadium site, and the website for "Friends of Civic Stadium" now defaults to some random "sports" site. Under the new grading system, this place likely shouldn't have scored so high, but it's a moot point. Besides, I'd rather not take anything away from this gem. 

Linescores
2007-07-16
                                                    123  456  789  R H E
Vancouver Canadians(OAK)             023  020  012  10 16 0
Eugene Emeralds (SD)                    002  030  201  8  11  1
Temp: 79F Time: 3:48 Att: 2,987


2009-09-02
                                                         123  456  789  RHE
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (SF)               001   030  300  771
Eugene Emeralds (SD)                        100   000  022   593
Temp: 83F Time: 2:32  Att: 5,815 

LECOM Park

Pittsburgh Pirates, Spring Training
Bradenton Marauders, Florida State League

9/10

The sidewalk was just a little too tight to get a decent shot of the entrance.

This is as good as I did behind home plate. I cropped a guy out, you can still see the top of his head.

Looking in at the grandstand.

Bonus Shot: This could be the best one I have, but it doesn't fit my facade/home/outfield template.

I went to LECOM Park on the last game day of my 2017 Florida trip, after a night game at Port Charlotte and before another one at Fort Myers. This is a pretty old field, having existed as McKechnie Field for numerous years and several other names since initial construction in 1923. The Pirates have been here since 1969, though it's been renovated several times since then. New renovations were completed prior to my visit in 2017. The park shows it's age and is a group of three grandstands set up behind home plate and each dugout.

The atmosphere is more oriented on baseball for sure, as there are flashier parks even in the Tampa area, let alone on the Gulf Coast. People were into the game, but not too into it.  The weather was clear and hot. The park's renovations mean it now has a wrap around concourse, which consists of a boardwalk which I thought looked pretty good.. There are numerous concessions on the first base side, and in center field, they do sell Gator Bites, which I would have had if I'd found them before I had my fish sandwich(which was very good as well).

It's a tough call, but I'd give this place a point for food and the park layout, plus a half point for atmosphere. I'd go back here again in a second, and likely will.

Linescore
2017-03-10
                     123   456   789  RHE
Tampa Bay    001  000   000  142
Pittsburgh      100  000   003  450
Time: N/A  Temp: N/A  Att: 5,804