Cuthbert renovation will add parking, food truck space, potential to expand venue

Big changes are coming to the Cuthbert Amphitheater.

The city of Eugene is seeking a contractor to take on a project, with a construction budget of $2 million to $2.4 million, to improve parts of the city-owned outdoor venue in Alton Baker Park.

The details were outlined in an invitation to bid, with a deadline of Aug. 25. 

The goal is to add 69 parking spots, create a new main entrance, expand the venue’s gravel backstage and staging area, add new security fencing to protect performers’ privacy, create space for food trucks and a bike valet, and more. 

On a walkthrough of the park with city landscape architect Mark Kosmos, he pointed out grassy stretches of Alton Baker Park outside of the Cuthbert that would become parking, space for food trucks, the expanded backstage area and more.

Construction is scheduled to begin Oct. 5, with an estimated completion date in January, though Kosmos said delays from bad weather or scheduled concerts could push that timeline into next spring.

If all goes according to plan, the Cuthbert could look vastly different by the next outdoor concert season — and, Kosmos said, the venue would be ready for more expansion in the years to come.

“It’s going to be the next new chapter for the city,” Kosmos said. “Hopefully, people will get excited about it, and then start getting excited about, ‘Well, when is the Cuthbert going to expand?’ Right now, I don’t think that’s even a conversation on anybody’s plate. But we know at some point that’s got to happen.”

The full list of changes in the current project includes: 

• A new entrance and gate, with a concrete sidewalk leading to the entrance from Day Island Road. The Cuthbert box office, a lime-green-painted wooden structure, will be relocated to a new main entrance area. 
• A new parking area with spots for 69 cars, south of the venue’s half-shell dome. That includes three standard ADA parking spaces and one van-accessible ADA parking space. 
• An expanded gravel storage and staging area, with designated parking for semi-trucks, buses and trailers for performing acts, as well as improved security fencing for performer privacy. 
• A new permanent “future bike valet zone” near the new main entrance, and the installation of four bike racks. Kosmos said the city considered permanent covered bike parking, but prioritized parking spots for now. 
• A new gravel food truck area to spread out concession lines during a concert, with a new water line and food cart power pedestals.
• Other structural changes, such as a new stormwater management system for the expanded space and a new irrigation system to water the vegetation around the parking lot.

The plans also indicate other changes that aren’t part of the current project, but could be realized in the future. That includes an overhead arch and columns for the new entrance and further expansion of the new parking lot. 

Will construction interfere with concerts?

It shouldn’t. The last concert of the Cuthbert’s season is Oct. 3, when the rapper Yelawolf and the rock band Highly Suspect will stop in Eugene. Construction is planned to begin on Oct. 5. 

Where is the money coming from?

Of the $2.4 million construction budget, $1 million is coming from the University of Oregon. 

That’s because of the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex Practice Field Expansion project, the UO’s new 170,000-square-foot indoor athletics center slated to open in 2027 in Alton Baker Park. The $1 million from the UO is a community benefit fund contribution offered as part of the land transfer, allowing the university to build its new facility, UO spokesperson Angela Seydel said in an email.

The Hatfield-Dowlin expansion project realigned part of Leo Harris Parkway, which ate into parking space for people attending the Cuthbert, Kosmos said.

“This is making us whole again,” he added.

What does this mean for Pre’s Trail?

Right now, a small portion of Pre’s Trail runs through the land where the parking lot and new main entrance is planned. The plans include details for a diverted portion of Pre’s Trail, which would go south of the parking lot along Day Island Road.

Kosmos said Pre’s Trail is special, and the parks division took it seriously in its plans. He said the plans for the diversion of Pre’s Trail were developed by Ryan Turner, a parks planning analyst for the city, who also consulted Steve Prefontaine’s sister on the changes. The new portion will curve and follow the edge of the new parking lot.

“It’s going to permanently change,” Kosmos said. “But if it doesn’t, then the park can’t grow, and we can’t service the people that need to be able to come in here.”

Does construction impact trees?

Yes. According to the plans, 11 trees will be cut down to make room for the new parking lot.

On the walkthrough, Kosmos said those were mostly remnant filbert trees that weren’t providing much shade to passersby, but also some ponderosa pines currently located where the new paved parking lot entry will be. Plans were developed to keep one large cottonwood tree, Kosmos said, but that meant some smaller maples around it would be cut down instead.

The project will also include a number of new trees planted along the new fence line and inside the parking lot, he added.

What does Kesey Enterprises think?

While the Cuthbert is owned by the city, it is operated by Kesey Enterprises.

The plan was developed by the city’s Parks and Open Space division, where Kosmos works in conjunction with Isaac Marquez, the director of the city’s Cultural Services Division. Kesey Enterprises, the private concessionaire that operates the Cuthbert, was also a part of discussions.

That included arranging a civic-planning field trip like none other when city employees were invited to attend a sold-out Weird Al Yankovic concert to see the venue at capacity. The Cuthbert currently holds about 5,000 people.

“If and when the Cuthbert expands so that we can have bigger concerts, there’s more room,” Kosmos said. “Right now, if you go in there during a concert or an event, you’re shoulder-to-shoulder with people during the intermission, trying to get food and beer and everything else. This allows for more of those vendors to come in, more food trucks, more beer trucks, whatever it is that they decide to bring in.”

On the walkthrough of the Cuthbert with Kosmos, Kit Kesey — owner of Kesey Enterprises — said he has to consider changes to the Cuthbert from both perspectives, the performer and the public, but that any improvement on the public experience is especially welcome. 

“Any creature comfort you can add, any gain of space out here, is going to be very comfortable for a large show with a set break,” Kesey said. “The concourses are full. Food booth lines are running into the people trying to get to the bathrooms. Now, we’ll be able to spread it out.”

“This is a good thing for Eugene,” Kesey added.