$6 million lottery bond will convert former Civic Stadium into recreational kids park
EUGENE, Ore. - The Eugene Civic Alliance has been approved for $6 million for a kids recreational park where historic Civic Stadium once stood in Eugene.
The stadium burned down two years ago and has been a fenced and locked ever since.
The Eugene Civic Alliance has partnered with Kids Sports to raise funds for the recreational area they plan on building in 2018.
“We have had some pretty good news in the last couple of weeks, with the community investment as well as the state lottery back bonds,” said Bev Smith, Executive director of Emerald Kids Sports.
Smith says the overall goal is to build a brand new recreational park for kids and adults to play.
The Eugene Civic Alliance bought the stadium from the Eugene school district before it burned down, and now they are hoping to renovate.
“The skeleton of Civic Park is not here but there is a beautiful soul that we are trying to refill and we are doing that with our community help,” said Smith.
There have been several efforts to raise funds for the recreational park and many groups have come together with the community.
Technology Association of Oregon helped Eugene Civic Alliance get the bonds to fund the project.
“Executives of tech companies have written letters of support for the efforts in Salem to get some funding, to support the project here,” said Matt Sayre, director of Technology Association of Oregon.
Sayre says he thinks putting a recreational center for children is important for parents. “There are fewer schools, which means fewer fields and gyms for kids to play on, so a site like this is important for us as parents.”
