The Lorax Manner and the Campbell Club, the University’s co-ops that stand on East 16th Avenue and Alder Street, are two places where community is the golden rule.
These early-20th-century houses stand in magnificent contrast to the glamorous, landscaped Kappa Delta sorority next door. They feature residents from community college students to University grad students, and even Eugene residents who aren’t enrolled at the University. They invite undergraduates of all majors and people from ages 18 through the mid-30s.
The Lorax is an architectural labyrinth; its five floors can house 25 people, even more if two or more residents share a room. A community kitchen — with industrial refrigerators and mixers — headlines the house’s main floor. There is a paint closet, administrative office, a recycling corner, a compost heap with vegetable gardens, a food and job board where meals are planned and duties assigned, a library with a piano and computers, a tool room, a living room with a digital projector for movie screenings and performances and a papermaking room. It also has a recreation room with TVs, games and a table tennis table.
The basement boasts a band room, a laundry corner with a “free” pile full of clothes and other necessities left behind by those who have moved out, and a room full of bikes that any resident may use.
A spiral staircase adds mystery and intrigue to the house. A “tower room” overlooks Alder Street. A hatch in the attic’s ceiling grants access to the rooftop, onto which only insured residents may venture.
Bathrooms and showers are co-ed, true to the community spirit.
The Campbell Club is like a stage with a kitchen attached to it: People are always on the old wooden veranda outside. A plaque above the stairwell just inside the house invites visitors to “Come on in!”
Live music is an everyday occurrence in the living room. The “Team America: World Police” anthem blares from the kitchen while the dining room erupts with laughter as people shout the lyrics. There are, however, quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 9 a.m., but they can change as members desire.
Inside these estates is an air of freedom and creativity. All styles of art, primarily homemade, line the walls. If residents are struck with a creative urge, they are encouraged to spread their imaginations across the house. Every twisting, winding hallway in the Lorax bears some kind of message or drawing. The living room of the Campbell Club is covered in more messages than a telegraph office.
Events in these houses can happen weekly and yearly; radical film screenings, benefit shows to promote local music, open mic night for residents and friends, an Alley Bazaar with music, face painting, mud wrestling and a kissing booth, and co-op Valentine’s Day.
The houses adhere to an environmental lifestyle: The Lorax is named after the Dr. Seuss’s character of the same name who “speaks for the trees!” The house calls itself a “Manner” because of its consciousness of its residents’ earth-friendly lifestyles. The Campbell Club, which shares the same lifestyle, is so named because it desires an easygoing community feel.
As there is no property management company controlling the houses, conflict resolution is a communal effort. Weekly meetings take place in both houses, so issues can be reported and discussed.
Sam Bennington, a certified nurse who has studied at Lane Community College, is proud to say there is a grievance process if a problem is so serious that extra steps must be taken.
Students looking for livable rent should come running to these estates. The houses share a mission under the Students’ Cooperative Association, which consists of the resident community instead of an overhanging real estate firm, to offer low-income student housing. Each member is therefore an equal-ownership manager.
“It’s the best deal in town,” ASUO President Amelie Rousseau said. “There’s art, music, activism, travel … it’s a really creative place.”
Although the house is affordable for students, there is a screening process for applicants. The routine is to have new candidates over for dinner, or hold a video conference if an applicant is international. Three house members must approve of a newcomer if he or she is to be accepted.
Included in the price of rent are food, utilities, and soap and toiletries. Rent goes to the SCA and provides for the next round of food and living supplies. By pooling money, Bennington says the resident community can buy in bulk. Cooks and cleaners aren’t necessary. The Lorax doesn’t allow meat inside the building. The Club permits it, but it must be kept in the personal fridge, away from the community fridge.
University senior Lisa Beighley enjoys the community feeling of living in a co-op.
“I love that everyone who lives here focuses on sharing skills: fixing bikes, house maintenance, fixing musical instruments … there’s a do-it-yourself-style,” Beighley said. “If you don’t like living with lots of people or being accountable for chores, you should live somewhere else.”
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