Arena plan appeals to broader base.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

The design phase of a new basketball arena at the University of Oregon is under way. It would still cost about $160 million to construct. A considerable amount of work behind the scenes must be done in the coming months.

Along with those updates and his prediction that `I do believe that our goal of building the finest college basketball arena in the country will be realized,' University of Oregon director of athletics Bill Moos offered a dose of financial reality for the possible patrons of a replacement for McArthur Court with a recent letter that outlined what their share of the cost could be, under the model being proposed to finance the project.

`It was to let them know that in the grand plan of the campaign for the arena, they do play an important role,' Moos said. `We hope to have major donors to make it work, but we are also hoping a broad base of our Duck Athletic Fund members will also be involved ... we felt they needed to know we're going to count on more than just a handful of people to make the arena a reality.'

Put on hold more than a year ago by the university administration as cost estimates climbed, the arena project remains the major focus for Moos. He reorganized his administrative staff in order to free up more of his time for the task of soliciting major contributions from a few selected supporters who might provide up to $125 million of the project's cost.

Oregon has purchased the land for the arena, the site where Williams Bakery currently operates, and this month reached agreement to purchase the property where the Romania auto dealership conducted business for decades. Moos said other property purchases in the area would follow, assuming the funding for the arena is finalized.

The relocation of the bakery, demolition of existing buildings in the area and the final plans for the complex will take at least a year, Moos said, and construction itself is estimated for another two years. That would put the earliest possible opening of the new arena the season after any of the current Oregon players have finished their careers.

`We're starting to see that '08 target date for completion slipping away,' Moos said. `I'm not saying it's out of the question ... (but) we've got a lot that has to take place' to be playing in a replacement for McArthur Court by that season, when current high school sophomores would be college sophomores.

In his letter to ticket holders, Moos wrote that `we are currently seeking major gifts for the arena and hope to announce our `construction gift' campaign within the next 6-12 months, followed by a donor seating campaign.'

The major gifts would be in amounts of more than $250,000, according to Moos' letter, with the construction gifts from $25,000 to $100,000. After seating preferences are worked out with those groups, the next step would be to go to donors, who would be asked to pay `construction fees' for seats ranging from $250 to $5,000, depending on location and payable over a period of from three to five years.

`We want to have (ticket buyers) thinking about how they can assist us, and what's best for them,' Moos said. `We need to get them thinking along the lines that the new arena can become a reality.'

In his letter, Moos outlined `donor seating options with a wide range' of monetary levels, and added that there will be `good seats that do not require a donation.'

The letter also reiterated some of the specifics of the facility. The total number of seats is estimated to be from 13,000 to 15,000, with up to 1,000 of those `club' seats for the highest level of donors and up to another 4,000 seats for `priority' donors.

Along with both an academic center and a training center that will include strength and conditioning facilities, the complex would include an auxiliary gym that could be used for volleyball or basketball practices, and would host competitions in volleyball and wrestling with seating for up to 2,000.

`We're only going to get to do it once, if we get to do it, and we want to do it right,' Moos said of the total building cost estimated at $160 million.

The auxiliary gym, Moos said, would be crucial as a practice venue for teams when the main facility is used for non-athletic events, such as concerts. He also wants the lower-profile sports to have `a more intimate place to compete,' rather than staging events in front of a crowd that doesn't fill one-tenth of the seats in the main facility.

`If we're going to do this thing as planned, the auxiliary gym plays a key role,' Moos said. `If things need to be cut ...'

The priority thus becomes soliciting those major donors, who will be asked to provide about $125 million of the project's cost. Moos said his department is seeking to avoid adding any bond payments since the annual budget for athletics already includes about $3.2 million to repay debt incurred with repairs at Hayward Field ($140,000 through 2008), the construction of the Casanova Center and the sky-suite building on the north side of Autzen Stadium (about $1,150,000 annually through 2021) and the expansion of Autzen Stadium ($1,880,00 through 2032).

Moos said he's prepared to `fill in blanks with bonding,' but concerns about his department incurring more debt payments will push the search for large donors.

`If you can buy a house without a mortgage, you ought to do it,' Moos said. `That would be ideal for us.'

It would mean raising `about $125 million,' Moos said from a small and select group of supporters, the majority of them in the group that withdrew from the project when it was put on an indefinite delay 14 months ago.

`At this point, they have not given us the green light that they're ready to come on board,' Moos said. `We continue to work with them.'

Whenever there is a major effort at raising funds at Oregon, the name that quickly comes to the forefront is Nike founder Phil Knight, who along with his wife, Penny, has been a major benefactor for the athletic department as well as the university.

`Phil has always shown an interest in the arena,' Moos said. `To have the quality of facility we're hoping for, we need to have Phil and Penny involved.

`Could we build an arena at Oregon without them? Probably. Would it be of the first-class nature we're hoping to have? Probably not."

Moos and Knight have recently appeared to be at odds over the direction of the UO track and field program, but Moos said that issue and the arena `are two different topics ... I don't think they are connected.'

Either cementing Knight's support or repairing that relationship figures to be a key item on the agenda for Moos in coming months. Meanwhile, he wrote to season ticket holders that work with the designers of the arena `will become much more detailed' in the near future, and he said he remains `optimistic' that progress will continue in other areas.

`It's been trying on all of us,' Moos said. `It's a huge undertaking for all of the people involved; a lot of money has to be raised, and it all has to fit together right.

`To date, it hasn't quite fit together right, and our ongoing effort is to make sure all the pieces fit. When they do, it's going to be a fabulous addition to the university and the community.'