University of Oregon campus planning committee approves site recommendation for

Ten years after its beach volleyball program was launched, the University of Oregon is making formal progress towards an on-campus facility for its varsity team.

UO’s campus planning committee, in an 8-2 vote with three abstentions, approved a preferred site recommendation for the facility, which calls for three courts to be built at 13th Avenue and Agate Street, during a meeting Tuesday afternoon. That recommendation goes before university president John Karl Scholz for approval before the design process can begin, then the completed design goes before the committee a second time before another presidential approval and construction begins.

Hamilton Hall is presently located at the site, which was one of five reviewed by the committee. UO plans to demolish Hamilton Hall beginning in August 2024, making fall 2025 the earliest construction of a beach volleyball facility would be completed, according to Aaron Olsen, interim senior planner for UO campus planning & facilities management. The earliest construction for a beach volleyball facility at any of the other sites considered by the committee, including the riverfront, east of Papé Field, next to Jane Sanders Stadium and the southwest campus green, would be completed is fall 2024, Olsen said.

UO deputy athletics director, senior woman administrator and deputy Title IX coordinator Val Johnson told the committee the team’s current use of two courts at Amazon Park, a public park in Eugene where the restroom has no doors on the stalls due to concerns about squatters, “severely hampers our ability to host events larger than a dual meet” and NCAA requirements to host a conference championship call for three courts.

The Pac-12 sponsors a conference championship in beach volleyball and though the Big Ten does not presently do so, the additions of Oregon, Washington, national powerhouses UCLA and USC, to join Nebraska in a growing sport make it more likely in the future. All eight other Pac-12 beach volleyball teams have on-campus courts used at least for practice; Washington plays home matches at Alki Beach, also a public park, and Utah uses a private indoor facility in addition to on-campus courts.

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“Our primary focus is on the well-being and development of our student-athletes, the growth of our program and ensuring competitive edge,” Johnson told the committee in prepared remarks. “A dedicated beach volleyball facility is essential to achieving these goals and maintaining our program’s competitiveness. Efforts to secure a suitable site for beach volleyball courts have been ongoing since the start of our program in 2013. Some donor funding has already been secured underscoring the importance of this initiative.

“The envisioned facility would not only cater to the needs of our NCAA Division I team but also offer opportunities for broader campus engagement. Athletics…