'There’s no time to waste.' Coming months 'critical' for Emeralds' proposal at Lane Events Center

Lane County staff report it hasn’t made any significant decisions yet about the feasibility of building a multi-use facility and new home for the Eugene Emeralds at the Lane Events Center.

As county officials continue considering the proposal, the next two to three months will be critical to deciding whether the facility will become a reality, County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky said during a Board of Commissioners meeting in late May.

Officials took a small step forward during that meeting by approving contract amendments that allow the effort to continue, for now, and stressed that it's an incremental move.

"This isn’t a done deal yet," Commissioner Jay Bozievich said. "We have many other decision points that have been described in the presentation before we get to where we’re moving ahead."

And while there are still a lot of steps to go, the county is on a time crunch, a consultant said.

“We’re thinking that it’s still very possible to build and open the ballpark by the spring of 2024,” said Mark Appell, a partner at Chicago-based International Facilities Group. “But there’s no time to waste.”

The Ems are in the process of finding a new stadium because new MLB facility standards and a longer season means the team, which has called Eugene home for decades, can no longer play at the University of Oregon's PK Park.

MLB is requiring the Ems to find a new home by 2025, but the university would prefer the team figure things out by 2024, General Manager Allan Benavides said.

Lane County staff and consultants have been working with the team to explore whether a "New Civic Stadium" is feasible for the Lane Events Center.

In addition to serving as a new home for the Ems, the facility would host community events, serve as an outdoor concert venue and accommodate baseball tournaments at multiple levels of play.

Commissioners said they see the multi-use facility as an opportunity to provided a needed spark to keep the Lane Events Center up and running for years to come.

"Without a catalyst like this, I do get concerned over time that the buildings won’t have an opportunity or we won’t be able to find other funding opportunities to keep them going," Commissioner Heather Buch said.

For subscribers:Effort to build baseball stadium for Emeralds at Lane Events Center spurs delight, concerns

The Emeralds are excited about the possibility of being the anchor tenant of a multi-use community facility at the county-owned events center, said Gant Elmore with Elmore Sports Group, which owns the team.

“It would allow professional baseball to stay in Eugene and Lane County for decades to come,” Elmore said. “It’s been here for a long time, we’ve been a part of it for a long time, and we’re excited to continue to be a part of it going forward.”

Part of the effort to evaluate the proposal is identifying funding sources for the facility. Original estimates pegged the facility at $45 million, though a consultant recently said $54 million to $60 million could be a more reasonable range, Interim Director of Operations Lorren Blythe told officials.

The county is pivoting away from identifying the cost and instead focusing on settling on a budget that respects available revenue, county spokeswoman Devon Ashbridge said.

“There are so many variables in a project of this nature, and it is important that we focus on what is reasonable and attainable,” Ashbridge wrote in an email.

The Oregon Legislature approved providing $7.5 million toward the proposed facility, which would be publicly owned.

Read more:As Emeralds, Lane County consider new stadium, Oregon approves $7.5 million in funding

The Ems are still committed to contributing $10 million, Elmore said, and are working to obtain $1.5 million in federal funds.

All of those amounts are “pieces of the puzzle,” said Christine Moody, the county’s finance director.

Staff anticipate the county will take out a bond to pay for the facility and use those funding sources and various other pots of money to pay the amount back over time, Moody added.

There’s still a lot of work to do moving forward, and staff plan to come back frequently with small, digestible updates to the board, Blythe said.

Commissioners will discuss what Blythe described as an early design step on Wednesday when they consider whether to authorize use of a design-build method for the proposed facility. If the board grants approval, the county would issue a request for quotes from qualified vendors, Ashbridge said.

Later this summer, staff will bring back additional information on funding options and community feedback, Blythe said, and the county plans to conduct a traffic study.

Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Will Lane County build multi-use facility, Ems home at Events Center?