Ducks Line Up New Arena

The University of Oregon received a conditional-use permit for its new basketball arena this week, closing a long and difficult approval process that’s delayed the project many times.

The state university sold $200 million of bonds for the arena earlier this year, but it still didn’t have all of the planning approvals it needed from the city of Eugene.

The bonds were backed by both the arena’s revenues and a backup pledge from the Oregon Legacy Fund, an endowment started with a $100 million donation from Nike Inc. co-founder Phil Knight.

With its construction approvals in place a university spokesman said it expects to complete construction of the 12,500-seat arena for the Oregon Ducks on schedule in November 2010.

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