Y Stories: Matt Chavarria
Each month, an estimated 1,500+ people utilize the Mid-Willamette Family YMCA’s seven acres of turf fields. Yet, before 2020, the land looked very different. Commercial and industrial buildings occupied the site, including the Oberto Sausage Company storefront and its adjacent factory. Transforming the land from an industrial space to a community sports complex took vision, persistence, and, ultimately, an unexpected demolition crew.
YMCA CEO Chris Reese was instrumental in developing the fields. Yet, Reese notes that the project would not have been possible without help from community members and local companies, including Matt Chavarria of Chavarria Construction, whose name now marks the YMCA’s north turf field: Chavarria Field.
Chavarria Construction is based in Silverton, Oregon, and has no direct ties to Albany. The company doesn’t do business in the area. But through a relationship with Reese and the YMCA’s Facilities Director at the time—Fred Patterson—Chavarria felt inclined to help.
Chavarria has been self-employed since he was 18, and has worked in the excavation industry since he was 10 years old. His father started Chavarria Construction in the 1990s. Today, Chavarria works daily alongside his crew and his son, who will likely take over the business one day. The company contracts throughout the valley, primarily crushing rock and building roads.
The YMCA’s demolition project in preparation for the fields was originally a day job for Chavarria. Although he had never done any demolition work before, he decided to donate a day of his time to demolish the small Oberto storefront on Pacific. However, the demolition project quickly grew into something more: tearing down the 97,000-square-foot concrete factory that sat behind it, which closed in 2010.
The factory building had enormous concrete footings and was filled with industrial smokers, stainless steel structures that were 30 feet wide, 70 feet long, and two and a half stories tall. Seven or so of these smokers were left inside the building when it was abandoned. Chavarria worked to dismantle it all.
Recently, Chavarria visited the YMCA and described the demolition while standing beside his namesake field.
“We had a rock hammer rigging up the concrete. But there was a lot of hidden stuff, you know. The building had to be probably 50, 60, 70 years old,” Chavarria said. "They paid big money to have people come in there and figure out what was under the ground. It was so far off, it wasn’t even close. There were big footings that were only supposed to be like two feet in the ground, and they ended up being like 15 feet in the ground, like 17 feet long. Because of those big, concrete walls.”
Much of the concrete from the building remains on site today, underneath both turf fields.
“Most of it is here,” Chavarria said. “Because if you go look at some of the old pictures, you’ll see piles of concrete that we crushed. And then we just put it back in and rolled it back down, and we kept moving it around.”
Chavarria ultimately donated both his time and the scrap steel to the YMCA. In total, he contributed over a million dollars to the project. Reese calls him “the two-million-dollar man.” Chavarria donated half of the steel back to cover his costs, and he saved nearly half a million dollars by crushing and reusing material from the site.
Because Chavarria operates and lives in Silverton, he doesn’t often have a chance to visit Albany or see the fields he helped build. He described seeing the facility today as “way different.” When asked why he felt compelled to help, Chavarria was humble and succinct.
“I just never did anything like that before,” he said. “Chris needed help. I thought it was good for you guys.”
Today, kids and community members play sports and run across the turf that rests on the layers of crushed concrete from the former factory almost daily. These materials might have otherwise left the site entirely; instead, they became the foundation for something new, something that Chavarria is continuously proud of.
“It makes me feel like I accomplished something,” Chavarria said. “A lot of people use the fields. Nobody even knows what went into it. The little kids, they have no clue—they just come here and play. It’s a good thing for the community.”
