Our Future’s on Track

Featured Image: An aerial shot of Glenwood in Springfield, Oregon.

A look at plans for an indoor track, sports, and events facility in Springfield

By Kari Westlund, Vonnie Mikkelsen, and Springfield Community Development Corporation (SCDC) Board Members

Springfield is a town that rolls up its sleeves and gets things done. It’s the Springfield Way. One that resists the notion that a bold idea can’t be done. One that instead figures out a way to make it happen. In so doing we’ve breathed life into tired buildings, creating lively gathering spaces. The PublicHouse and the 300 Block of Main Street come to mind. Reimagined landmark commercial spaces like Booth Kelly. Revived cultural assets like The Wildish Theater and the Emerald Arts Center, and preserved historical landmarks like the Train Depot. We’ve improved our public placemaking by investing in public art and improved our quality of life by enhancing indoor-outdoor trails, parks, and recreational centers. 

It is a way that has served us well for decades. It’s one that is alive and well among a small but mighty group of business and community volunteers behind plans to build an indoor track, multi-sports, and community event facility in Springfield. 

Realizing a Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity

In 2019, a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, the Springfield Community Development Corporation (SCDC), was formed by area citizens to champion, plan, and raise funds to construct an indoor track, sports and events facility in Glenwood. This followed twelve months of deliberative work by a diverse group of engaged citizens who reviewed possible sites, spoke with property owners, studied public-private fundraising models, and engaged with facility user groups. Conceptual space designs were drawn up and costs drawn down.

What is emerging is nothing short of a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Springfield. One that will increase access to quality of life recreational assets in an underserved area of Springfield, improve community health and wellness, catalyze economic opportunity, and solidify Springfield’s name brand value attractive to visitors as well as families. 

For years, we’ve called Glenwood that diamond in the rough. The time has come to polish the gem. The last five years has seen movement in that direction with the construction of three new hotels and the completion of Phase I improvements to Franklin Boulevard. Supporters say the indoor track and sports facility is just the kind of catalyst needed to bolster those investments, draw new dollars into the local economy, drive market confidence, and attract further attention and investment. 

Driving Economic Opportunity

The economic returns are impressive as substantiated by a third-party national consultant who issued a conservative estimation of economic impact and operating feasibility. The analysis completed in February of this year showed the facility alone would generate $6.3M in direct spending in the first year and $47M cumulative direct spending over the first five years. At maturity, the study showed as many as 32,000 new room nights and $14.9M in new direct spending per year. That’s new investment, new visitor spending to support area businesses, and new room tax dollars to support further economic development, public infrastructure, and services. 

On completion, the facility will be a year-round economic driver through the attraction of indoor sports and non-sports events supporting restaurant, lodging, and hospitality businesses reliant on the visitor economy. And as the only hydraulic banked track in Oregon and along the I-5 corridor, the facility will draw a full schedule of invitational and collegiate meets during the indoor season of January, February and March. 

The evolution of the project to a community-based development has many positives that align with our vision for how the building will be used. It will serve residents as an all-access recreation and tournament facility in an underserved part of Springfield. It offers access for all ages, from youth to masters, all collegiate leagues, and training provisions for all ages and skill levels. 

Depending on its exact location, the facility will articulate with outdoor recreational amenities and adjacent activities.​ The best-in-class 200-meter hydraulic track is a distinct feature. In a matter of minutes, it can be raised for indoor track competition and training, and lowered to accommodate a full array of tournaments for all kinds of sports from basketball to volleyball, gymnastics, pickleball, martial arts, archery and more. We envision the facility also accommodating a variety of events from chamber and civic dinners to trade shows to e-sports competitions, even concerts.

As project planning has evolved, this facility is likely to host a wide range of events all year long, with indoor track events in January, February and March.​ The track will be designed ​and built to be the premiere indoor facility on the West Coast. ​Rather than NCAA-only events, we can host NCU bid events, and Lane Community College bid events, high school and all-comer events.

We recognize that our combined metro area and the entire county is underbuilt for indoor sports access by the community. Willamalane’s facility at 32nd and Main is fabulous, but when we place a tournament there, we displace recreational use for the duration of the tournament, and we are out of space to maximize the largest tournaments, like the Matt Hartner volleyball tournament. We see a flexible indoor track space as complementing the Bob Keefer recreational complex, absorbing unmet demand for tournament space, lessening pressure on existing facilities, and increasing community access. We also believe the flexibility inherent in the facility design will help us eliminate operating subsidies by keeping the building busy year-round with a variety of events while providing additional community access for recreation and training.

Building Brand Value and Reputation 

An indoor track has been talked about for years in the metro area, primarily tied to the University of Oregon, but also in Glenwood. Glenwood’s proximity to the University and Hayward Field, the finest outdoor track in the world, make it a perfect location for a complementary indoor facility. A national meet level hydraulic indoor track will be a unique feature that provides an Oregon and west coast-based home for indoor events, strengthen the region’s reputation and underscore Springfield’s legacy and connection to the internationally-recognized TrackTown USA brand, deepening the sporting bonds between Eugene and Springfield, and connecting visitors from the Pacific Northwest to our community.​​ 

Elevating our distinction as sports tourism destination is not the only marketing opportunity. We are often seeking ways Springfield might better connect with the new UO Knight Science Center. These connections might include sports, fitness, and medical technology. Think methodical medical research on the impact of jogging on heart health​, innovation in sports performance, the evolution of sports medicine​, UO programs on human performance, and entrepreneurial spinoffs. 

Garnering Support Through Community Partnerships

Right now, the SCDC is focused on careful planning, spending, value, and accessibility in design development that Springfield residents are proud of and will use. Property owners at multiple locations are expressing interest in master planning for complementary uses.​

We have a local design-build partner, a local architectural firm and national technical partners who believe in our project. We have a long list of potential users, including area sports programs and all of the post-secondary educational institutions who are anxious to help bid events and access the facility for team training. We have letters of support from public and private sector leaders. We have broad interest, both in the indoor track but even more so in the expanse of opportunities that a multi-use facility brings to the community and the multitude of families that travel extensively for their kids to participate in tournaments and activities we can’t currently accommodate. 

The vision for a regional River District connecting downtown Springfield to downtown Eugene is one to capitalize on now. Springfield can be a player. But only with a bold and visionary plan, a project by the community and for the community. The greatest opportunity to come along in years if not decades is in realizing an indoor track, sports, and events facility in Glenwood.

A Few Final Thoughts

While community impacts brought on by this year’s pandemic have presented unforeseen challenges, the SCDC volunteers’ dedication to this community-based vision, mission, and goals is unwavering. 

We’ll pursue a path forward through all grants, donations, and public support available.

We’ll engage with supportive community partners and stakeholders who have come forth to offer their expertise, time, and talent.

We’ll channel the tenacity of track and field legends like Steve Prefontaine, Bill Dellinger and Bill Bowerman who have called Springfield home. 

We’ll deliver on a vision to locate a premiere indoor track and multi-sport facility in Springfield, one that provides for a healthier citizenry, improved economic opportunity, and a wonderful place to gather and enjoy each other’s company.

We’ll build a place that our community will be proud to call theirs. 

Kari Westlund is the President and CEO of Travel Lane County; Vonnie Mikkelsen is the President and CEO of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. Westlund and Mikkelsen have worked with and alongside members of the community on the Springfield track steering committee since 2018 to champion an indoor track and multi-sports and events center; they are founding board members of the Springfield Community Development Corporation, a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation comprised of volunteer civic, business, and community leaders established in 2019 to carry out the plans and fundraising for the project.