Eugene’s City Hall project took another step forward on August 24 as residents gathered at the First United Methodist Church for the third of four Community Forums on the issue. At the forum, city planners presented 25 potential sites for the new City Hall building.
After the presentation and group discussions, each audience member voted with a small, blue clicker for their favorite
sites. The Sears lot across the street from the library, the Butterfly lot (where Rock N’ Rodeo currently sits), and
the current City Hall site received the most votes, said Glen Svendsen, Facilities Division Manager for the City of Eugene.
The City Council will consider the three sites and make the final decision in late September.
Thomas Hacker Architects, leader of the project team, presented the site analysis. One intention of the presentation was to explain how “landscape architects and urban planners think when they are going through the process of trying to decide which sites make the most sense,” said architect Jonah Cohen.
One problem with the current City Hall building is its size. City Hall doesn’t fit in one building anymore.
Its offices are strewn around downtown in a number of buildings. Room to house all current City offices and room for expansion are primary considerations for the new location.
Not all Eugene residents are happy with the project.
“Eugene has a history of terrible disrespect for its architectural history,” said Kevin Matthews, president of the local watchdog group, Friends of Eugene. “There has never been a positive vision of how the building could be renovated put forward.”
Matthews believes the City should renovate the existing building. They should “bring the building back to life-while keeping the structure as a symbol of sustainability,” Matthews said.
City Hall needs “structural improvements to prevent heavy damage-possibly even collapse-during a moderate to heavy earthquake,” according to the Eugene City Hall Master Plan.
Matthews said the City uses earthquake unreadiness as a “boogy-man” to justify the added costs of new construction.
The planning of the project consists of four stages, which nclude four community forums. The first stage determined
the maximum space needed for City Hall: 300,000 square feet for the building and 100,000 square feet for parking.
The second stage was to decide whether the City would renovate the current building, build a new City Hall, or create a
hybrid building of new and old construction. The City Council decided on a new building.
August’s meeting was held to help determine City Hall’s new location.
The fourth and final step of the planning process is to analyze building design options, said Svendsen.
Community forum number four will take place Nov. 9. The public will “Review decisions based on public outreach
and technical data-and draft design concepts,” according to the City Hall Master Plan.