My Duck-Buddies....this is my 40th year of being a season ticket holder, so the hundreds of times I've driven up to Autzen and approached it on Martin Luther King Blvd., (formerly Centennial) is an image that is etched in my mind. For so many years....it was a vast parking lot with tons of gravel. Then it became partially a gravel area, augmented with a practice field. Then it become ALL practice fields...

I was not mentally prepared for what I saw as I drove up today, Saturday, August 22nd....approaching the first street to turn off for parking, going to the Duck Store, etc. This fricken new Practice Facility takes up the entire space of the practice fields,-the entire block! And the height of it is MASSIVE!

Pictures do NOT convey the feeling you get when you see it up close....and it is just a frame at this moment! I was gasping at what I saw...good gosh this is going to be huge.

This picture below from my cell phone in my vehicle does not do the visual impact you get any justice....

Wowsa. When they say that there will be nothing like it in the NFL or CFB...I believe it!

I've been driving by almost weekly and I'm amazed at the progress and the enormity of the project. I hope they get the roof on before the rainy season to protect the wood beams. It's come a long way from the gravel parking lot that in High School we used to drive over and cut cookies (spin donuts) in our hot rods.

I learned to drive on that vast expanse of gravel...cutting cookies, broad slides, etc. what fun.

1 hour ago, Red Eddy Green said:

I hope they get the roof on before the rainy season

Blasphemy, that close to Autzen . . . NO WAY

Men are from Mars, Ducks are from Jupiter, Beavs are from Uranus.

What in the heck are we doing? This looks like some kind of futuristic secret society building. I expect to see Superman crashing some sort of Brainiac inspired super Olympics event from this structure. It's like Walt Disney really is alive, and he teamed up with Rod Serling to create a Twilight Zone "World of Tomorrow".

What I'm really saying is "Wow"! I don't know what I'm looking at, or why Oregon needs this along with all your other amazing facilities, but I'd sign up to play for the Ducks just to see what was in that structure, if I was a five star athlete.

Florida is doing a 1.7 billion dollar renovation on "The Swamp" and the early renderings show some extra press boxes added. That's the "creativity" you get for almost two billion in Gainesville.

New Mo.2 indoor facility, design by Olson Kundig design team

https://www.woodworksinnovationnetwork.org/projects/university-of-oregon-hatfield-dowlin-complex-expan

The signature rounded and sweeping roofline mirrors the distinct elliptical contour of the school's O branding.

Early on some suggested the design was inspired by Sydney Opera House.  I don’t believe that is true, the architect firm had its own vision.   But, there might be some parallels to Sydney at U of  Cincinnati:

https://gobearcats.com/news/2025/04/28/university-of-cincinnati-announces-official-name-of-sheakley-indoor-practice-facility-and-sheakley-athletics-performance-center