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It's not a Club Med. It's not even a Gold's Gym. But it could be.
New renovations to the Oregon football team locker room are so advanced in architecture and technology that it rivals even the best NFL locker rooms.
"We've had several of our people observe other locker rooms, both collegiate and professionally around the country, (which is) the case with a lot of our facility enhancements," Athletic Director Bill Moos said. "We have taken what we felt is the best features of several of those and incorporated them into ours."
The ceiling was raised 7 feet 5 inches with a mezzanine level added to create more space, allowing coaches to stand in the center of the room and see all of their players.
The facility boasts a total of 120 lockers, with 39 upstairs. The lockers, which include specific locations to accommodate injured athletes, have increased in size, are fully ventilated and come with Ethernet connections, allowing for easier studying.
Even the doors have been revamped. What was once a standard door only allowing single-file traffic has been remodeled to a large panel vertical lift door that opens in three seconds. The new door now allows the football team to rush onto the field faster and more energetically.
"It's going to increase performance and be more functional," said Tim Canfield, principal designer and owner of Concept 2 Reality.
Among the many other technological renovations, a thumb scanner functions as a lock for the room.
The plasma screens will have satellite functionality, DVD and VCR access and video-game capabilities. The athletic department is also positioning a camera inside Autzen Stadium that will focus solely on the scoreboard and transmit the image to one of the screens.
"Those plasma panels will have multiple sources from watching game film to highlight film, and there will always be information about game time available," said Canfield, who graduated from the University in 1987 and was a pole vaulter for three years on the Oregon track and field team.
The locker rooms will also be implemented with photo cells attached to dimmers outside. The photo cells make the light intensity outside very comparable to that of inside the locker room. Brightness previously caused a problem when players entered the field because it can take up to 20 minutes for a person's eyes to adjust to different light intensities, Canfield said. He said the photo cells should eliminate such a problem.
And if the plasma screens and floor-to-ceiling mirrors between lockers aren't enough for amenities, the locker room offers motivational tools, too.
All of the bowl logos for games in which Oregon has competed will sit above the exit door, with plenty of open space for future bowl games. A long cement wall has also been added leading out of the locker room, which will have laser etchings of each of Oregon's athletes in the NFL Hall of Fame. As with the logos, there will be enough space for future Oregon athletes to earn their spot.
"As players are exiting and going to the stadium they can see that, out of all the years of Oregon football, there are only five guys on the wall," architectural designer Rob Lamb said. "There is plenty of room for athletes to be on that wall."
With all the renovations to the new locker room, Oregon is continuing to follow suit by portraying the school and athletic department as having the best facilities in the nation. And it appeals to recruits, which was the bottom line.
"It's primarily a recruiting tool," Moos said. "Our football locker room was basically outdated. So to best service our players and to provide an environment that is welcoming and, most importantly, appeals to recruits, we continue to move forward in facilities."
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