Oregon state legislators are questioning whether the bidding process on the new University of Oregon basketball arena was open and whether they’ve been open during requests for information.
The $227 million arena has been under heavy scrutiny from the day it was announced, but requests for records pertaining to its funding and bid processes have been mishandled, say legislators and critics of the project. In addition, many of the largest contracts let for the project, including a design deal for TVA Architects and Ellerbe Becket and a construction contract for Hoffman Construction, were awarded in a no-bid process. That’s not necessarily unusual, especially in the case of the architecture firms, who put much work into a project way before the final budgeting is complete.
In the end, the university agreed there were problems in reporting and record-keeping.
Â
