A facelift for Lincoln Park?

Pacific University approaches Forest Grove with a proposal to renovate the city-owned park – to the tune of $8 million – and turn it into a state-of-the-art athletic complex for both the school and the public

By Zack Palmer

The Forest Grove News-Times, Nov 15, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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Meanwhile, an improved Bond Field and a brand new softball facility could help draw OSAA playoff events as well as regional tournaments for Little League, Junior Baseball of Oregon or AAU softball.

RECRUITING

With no athletic scholarships to hand out at the Division III level, Pacific often falls back on the quality of its teams, coaches and players when recruiting potential athletes. Schumann sees the Lincoln Park Athletic Complex as a trump card the University can use to lure top athletes to its programs.

“This is part of our strategic plan to improve our athletic facilities,” he said. “I think it’s something we have to do. In athletics we’re in a competitive position with our sister institutions, and in terms of our outdoor facilities, we lag significantly behind the other schools in the Northwest Conference.

“If we want to be competitive on the recruiting trail and also provide our student-athletes with venues similar to what they have at other institutions, we have to upgrade our facilities.”

The biggest immediate impact will likely happen for the University’s track and field program, which has not had its own on-campus facility since the 1960s. Head coach Ron Tabb has built a surprisingly successful program despite not having a track for practices or home meets.

“The track and field team has never had a facility to call their own,” said Schumann. “We have some good athletes who have been successful at this level, but if you look at a program like Willamette, they have 100 athletes running track. We have 40 between our men’s and women’s teams.

“We would like to see our program grow and this is our way of helping that happen.”

Tabb, not surprisingly, is excited about the possibility of having a world-class training facility just a few steps from his office in the Pacific Athletic Center.

“Obviously, having a facility like that will make my job a lot easier when it comes to recruiting,” said Tabb. “I’ve always had somewhat of a handicap there. We’ve done fairly well considering the circumstances, but the simple fact is that if a serious recruit is trying to decide between Pacific and, say, Linfield or Willamette, they’re going to look at the facilities and choose the school that gives them the best chance to grow and compete at a national level.”

Currently, Tabb’s cross country teams run at Fern Hill Wetlands or make a weekly trip to the Nike Campus in Beaverton, while his track and field squad has to share the facilities at Forest Grove High School – a balance he says is, frankly, “a pain in the butt.”

Now, potentially with world-class facilities at his disposal not just for meets but also for practices, Tabb sees Pacific landing better athletes and giving them an opportunity to take their careers farther.

“When I was consulted about the track facility, I said, ‘If you’re going to do this, do it right.’ You have to build a facility capable of hosting NCAA Championships and attracting the type of athletes to Pacific who can compete at the national level,” said Tabb.

Other coaches are excited about the plan as well. Tim Hill, whose Pacific softball teams have played for years on a glorified rec league diamond, will finally have a facility worthy of the school’s rapidly improving program. The yet-unnamed field will have permanent fencing, an electronic scoreboard, covered dugouts, improved drainage, permanent seating for 300 spectators and a press box – all things the current field lacks.

“Our field is the worst in the conference,” said Hill. “I’m not sure if there is a worse facility that a college team is playing on in the United States.”

Last year’s Pacific softball team won 23 games – a significant jump from the nine wins the Boxers had in 2002 before Hill took over the program. Now Hill is hoping that the sparkling new facilities will help solidify a program on the rise.

“The program has overcome the field issues,” he said. “I think what it would do for us is build even more pride in this program. Now, teams show up and see the field we’re playing on and I think the girls are a little embarrassed. The new field would be something they could be proud of.”

Hill doesn’t deny that a new field could help recruiting, but he also sees it a means to increase fan support for his Boxers.

“Recruiting-wise, we’ve done a pretty good job. I’m sure that along the way we’ve lost a kid or two because of our facilities, but I think recruiting would be just one benefit,” he said. “I also think it can have an impact on attendance. The field we’re playing on now doesn’t even have a place for people to sit. A new field, hopefully that could be a draw for people to come out and support the team.”

Pacific baseball, meanwhile, will move out of a decaying Bond Field and into new-and-improved facility of the same name. The field’s current cramped press box that also doubles as a storage shed will be replaced with a state-of-the-art enclosed press area, while the moveable bleachers will be jettisoned in favor of a 500-person, permanent grandstand behind home plate. The field will get improved drainage and an adjacent storage shed for field equipment, and it will also have on-site batting cages and a bullpen area.

“I think this is a great process for all Pacific athletics, but specifically from a baseball standpoint, I’m really excited about the opportunity to build a new field and do it from the ground up,” said Greg Bradley, now in his 12th year at the helm of the Pacific baseball program. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and we’ve never even been close to the top of the conference in facilities.”

Bradley, like many of his Pacific coaching mates, is excited about the recruiting possibilities afforded by a new complex.

“It might keep us from losing kids who are on the fence,” he said. “Recruiting is an interesting process. You try to sell the University first, and the fact that you’ll get a first-class eduction. Then you try to sell the athletic program – the success you’ve had and the team you’ve put together. Then, the third part of it is you want to sell them on a place where they’re taken care of and can play at a facility they’re proud of.”

Bond Field in its current incarnation is a rapidly-decaying facility that does not hold water particularly well or stand up to daily use.

“One of the most exciting things, at least from my perspective, is that we can start from the ground up,” said Bradley. “We can lay out the drainage and grading of the field, and plan for the water to drain off better. It’s going to really help with the wear and tear. In the long run it will benefit us, but it will also benefit the community teams that use the field.”

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