Plans to move the Eugene Police Department headquarters out of downtown are underway as the city manager’s office negotiates a deal for a building north of the Willamette River.
In July, City Manager Jon Ruiz pushed for the relocation, holding two public forums and promoting the move publicly. Since that time, the City Council has been deliberating over the proposal, which would move the EPD out of City Hall and into a privately-owned office building north of downtown and the Willamette, onto Country Club Road.
Jan Bohman, the public relations officer at the city manager’s office, said Ruiz is making headway on the proposal.
“We are negotiating with the landowners at Country Club Road, working out a purchase of sale agreement,” she said.
Concerns about the City Hall location’s vulnerability to earthquakes, as well as its cramped quarters, are the primary arguing points of those advocating the relocation.
“We’ve been looking at this issue for a number of years, and we haven’t found another building up to this standard, as far as space and seismic standard,” Bohman said, referring to the Country Club Road location. “The main impetus for a move is it’s a safety issue for emergency responders; the safety standards for emergency personnel have to be built to a higher standard.”
Yet many residents remain skeptical of the plan. Lane Community College student Robert Patterson said he thought the plan was symbolic of the city’s abandonment of downtown.
“Instead of leaving another empty lot downtown and moving out to the suburbs, the police department should be a part of downtown renewal in a positive way. It’s as if they’re running away,” Patterson said. “Cops need to make an effort to be part of the community.”
The plan’s estimated price tag has drawn the attention of critics. The county assessor lists the market value of the Country Club Road location at $10.1 million, the Register-Guard reported. Estimates for the renovation of the building, including seismic upgrades, are close to $6 million, bringing the city’s total investment in the plan to $16 million.
Bohman and the city manager’s office maintain that moving EPD headquarters out of City Hall is wholly necessary, and the Country Club Road location is the best option.
“According to our estimates, it would be more expensive and not up to par to retrofit,” she said. “If we rehab part of City Hall, we have to rehab all of it. It would be very difficult to do that.”
Critics have pointed to the potential lack of police in the heart of the city, should the department headquarters move. But Bohman said the move wouldn’t affect EPD’s presence.
“I think critics’ concerns are somewhat misplaced,” Bohman said. “The services in downtown will be exactly the same. The dispatch of police who are assigned to downtown will remain downtown.”
The proposal would place a police substation downtown, intended to give Eugene denizens a place to contact the police and provide EPD more visibility.
Considerable support for the move exists within the city’s top brass. Mayor Kitty Piercy and councilors Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, George Poling, Andrea Ortiz, Jennifer Solomon and Alan Zelenka have said they support the move.
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EPD plans to relocate main office
Daily Emerald
February 2, 2010
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