Historic Hayward Field’s Remodel

Rendering of the new Hayward Field https://hayward.uoregon.edu/

Old Hayward Field. Courtesy of Jeff Cohen (@jeffcohenphoto)

Historic Hayward Field, longtime home of the Oregon Ducks Track and Field program, is currently under construction.

First opened as the university’s football stadium in 1919, Hayward Field may be remembered for everything but football. Countless legendary track stars have competed at Hayward, including Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Mo Farah, Allyson Felix and Portland’s own Ryan Crouser.

The city of Eugene put in a bid to host the 2019 Track and Field World Championships, but instead were asked to host in 2021. In order to host the World Championships, the 100-year-old seating area needed an upgrade. Despite its historical significance to the sport of track and field, the stadium’s seating needed to be increased to hold fans from all over the world. In June 2018, the stadium was torn down.

Plans to build a new stadium had been in the works for over two years before the demolition in 2018. The new stadium will hardly resemble the old one.

On the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field Renovation page, Olympic Gold Medalist Matthew Centrowitz Jr., said about the new design, “It looks futuristic, like no stadium that I’ve ever raced in.”

Catlin Gabel School’s Track and Field head coach, Greg Hess, also shared his thoughts about the stadium.

“Oregon had very little say in the design of the stadium,” said Hess. “They just built what IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) wanted them to.”

Over a year into its construction, Hayward Field is slated to be ready for the OSAA State Track and Field Championships and the NCAA National Championships in May, as well as the 2020 Olympic Trails in June.