Those football fans who saw the temporary seating towers, paid for by Nike paid, perched on the north rim of Autzen Stadium for last week's game with USC, don't know the half of it. If Tinker Hatfield has his way, we could see as many as 10 of the towers on that side of the stadium for important home games, with ramps carved into the north berm to get people in and out of the stadium more quickly. More restrooms and concession stands would be located in a plaza halfway up the ramps. Fans could enter the stadium through a grand entrance on the north side. Now, he is turning his attention to ways to expand the capacity on the north side. It's a tricky problem, because in this economy there probably isn't the money or the will to raise $100 million or more to make the north side look like the south. So Hatfield began playing around with the concept of flexible seating, similar to that in Cowboys Stadium. There, a large number of fans can buy standing room tickets for end zone decks. Or, temporary seating can be installed on the decks. Hatfield looked at Autzen's north rim and began scheming ways "to make the stadium what I would call more elastic." He came up with towers, which he likened to balcony boxes in an opera house. They can go up quickly and come down quickly, which means Oregon would have the ability to alter Autzen's seating capacity as necessary. "It's a little like for a golf tournament," Hatfield said. "They build an entire stadium around the 18th hole. They throw it up in a day. They do the same thing at Hayward Field for big track meets." When there are 10 towers in place, Hatfield sees an opportunity for murals and graphics along both the front and back. Nike had state-of-the-art graphics ready to go for the current two towers, but the city nixed both over concerns they would make the towers more vulnerable to heavy winds. Oregon officials like what they have seen, both from the two towers now in place, and the flexible ticketing options that Hatfield wants them to pursue. http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/11/oregon_insider_nike_visionary.html
