Alton Baker Park
Encyclopedia
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, near Autzen Stadium
Autzen Stadium
Autzen Stadium is an outdoor football stadium in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Located north of the University of Oregon campus, it is the home field of the Oregon Ducks of the Pacific-12 Conference. Opened in 1967, the stadium has undergone several expansions...
. It was named for Register-Guard
The Register-Guard
The Register-Guard is a daily newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon, United States. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the Eugene Daily Guard and the Morning Register. The paper serves the Eugene-Springfield area, as well as the Oregon Coast, Umpqua River Valley, and surrounding...
founder Alton F. Baker, Sr. It features duck pond
Duck pond
A duck pond is a pond for ducks and other water fowl. Duck ponds provide habitats for water fowl and other birds, who use the water to bathe in and drink....
s, bicycle trails, and a dog park
Dog park
A dog park is a facility set aside for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners...
, and directly touches the Ferry Street Bridge across the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
.
Other amenities include the Cuthbert Amphitheater
Hult Center for the Performing Arts
The Hult Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts facility in Eugene, Oregon, that opened in 1982.It is located adjacent to the Eugene Hilton and the Eugene Community Conference Center, which were also completed in 1982, as part of the same urban renewal project.The Hult Center and the...
for outdoor musical and drama performances.
The park also features a model, in 1:1 billionth scale, of the sun and inner planets of our solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
. Though some planets (Saturn, Pluto and Neptune) had been stolen (most likely via hammer and chisel), they were replaced in a revamped solar system layout.
Whilamut Natural Area
Springfield, Oregon
Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield is the second-most populous city in the metropolitan area...
's Eastgate Woodlands via bicycle paths and open space. "Wilhamut" is a Kalapuya
Kalapuyan languages
Kalapuyan is a small extinct language family that was spoken in the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon, United States. It consists of three languages.-Family division:Kalapuyan consists of...
word that means "where the river ripples and runs fast". A ceremony to rename the former East Alton Baker Park took place on September 7, 2002 and included a traditional Kalapuya naming ceremony.