President Frohnmayer sent out this mass email earlier this evening, informing the University community on the progress of the new arena:

Dear University Colleagues,

As you likely know, we are moving forward on the planning for a new arena to replace McArthur Court. I am writing to give you a report on what has taken place and where we are in the planning process.

The new arena will be the venue for basketball and volleyball and will allow regional and community access for other purposes. The preliminary plan is for a building of approximately 380,000 square-feet with seating for at least 12,500 spectators. The arena will be constructed on the site of the former Williams� Bakery east of the UO campus. This site was chosen following a feasibility study that considered numerous options. The advantages are its proximity to campus, its location on a major thoroughfare (Franklin Boulevard), and the adjacent new express bus line.

National Championship Properties, LLC (NCP), a Limited Liability Corporation created by the University of Oregon Foundation for the sole purpose of constructing the arena, will be the developer of the arena. The university�s cost will not exceed $200 million, and it will be paid for with long-term Article XI-F(1) Bonds that will be retired with athletic department revenues.

Actions taken to date include legislative approval of the F-Bonds to purchase the Williams� Bakery site and adjoining parcels (2005); the university�s acquisition of the Williams� site (2006); and the granting of authority from the State Board of Higher Education to acquire the remaining necessary parcels (September 2007). This November, the university will request State Board of Higher Education approval to seek legislative authority to issue F-Bonds for the project. We have been in continuous contact with the chancellor, the vice chancellor for finance and administration, and the controller for the Oregon University System.

The university, with Board approval, will request bond authorization during a February 2008 special session of the Legislature. If that happens, construction could begin next summer after the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, and the arena could open for the fall 2010 volleyball and basketball seasons.

The university is vetting the preferred financial plan internally and externally. I have charged an administrative subcommittee with the task of analyzing the financing for the arena. As is standard operating procedure for any construction project, we will conduct a careful and conservative fiscal analysis, as will the other governmental entities reviewing this proposal. I will continue to update the Faculty Advisory Committee and the University Senate�s budget subcommittee on arena financing.

Let me conclude with some additional assurances. First, Mac Court must indeed be replaced. It has served the university well for some 80 years, but it is at the end of its useful life. The future of Mac Court is undecided at this time, but I can say with certainty that the property will be used for academic purposes. We have begun discussions as to how best to involve members of our community in deciding this future use.

In August, we announced a $100 million gift from Phil and Penny Knight. Their gift�the largest in the university�s history�is a key factor in making the athletic department fully self-sustaining and able to undertake projects such as the arena. At present, the UO is one of only seventeen Division I schools in the nation�and certainly the only public university in Oregon�that has a self-supporting athletic program. State funds support our academic mission alone.

For those who believe that athletic programs detract from our academic mission�a false dichotomy in my mind�please remember that in the last decade we have completed or have in progress construction projects that total nearly a half billion dollars, and 75 percent of that amount was spent on facilities that support the academic mission of the university. Examples include Allen Hall, the Knight Law Center, the Lillis Business Complex, Integrative Science Complex, School of Music and Dance, and a new facility for the College of Education for which we will formally break ground later this month.

I intend to update this report periodically in the coming weeks and months. I welcome your questions and comments.

Warm regards,

Dave Frohnmayer
President
[email protected]

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 23:42 by Ossie and is filed under Campus, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.