Sitting between Hilyard Street and Patterson Street on 14th Avenue is a patch of land about half the size of a soccer field. Street lights dimly illuminate the far side of the park, while homes and apartment buildings line its darkened boundaries. Weeds grow between cracks in the brick tiled pathway that connects the dry grass field to the sidewalk. An aging brown sign with curvy white lettering tells passersby the name of this no man’s land: West University Neighborhood Park.
The park has been off-limits to the public since 1995. Now, West University residents, business owners and other community members will begin to discuss the future of the abandoned parcel of land. With the West University Task Force and the newly re-formed West University Neighborhood Association raising concerns about crime and quality of life in the area, the park has become an important issue regarding the vitality of the neighborhood.
Steven Baker, a West University resident, said there are “mixed feelings in the neighborhood” about the park.
“There are some people who think that (the city) should open the park and there are others who want to keep it closed,” Baker said.
Baker, who has lived in the West University neighborhood since 1973, said residents of the area were concerned with transients and other individuals who frequented the park during the years it was open. He said certain people were using the park for drug deals, public drinking and other disruptive behavior.
The West University Neighborhood Park closed in 1995 when tenants, landlords and property owners asked the city to close it because of criminal activity stemming from it. The city became concerned with the welfare and safety of residents near the park and stated it had “become a haven for illegal activities” and created “an atmosphere that is unfit and unsafe,” according to a city administrative order ordering the closure of the park in November 1995.
City Park Planner John Weber said the park’s location on 14th Avenue limited its visibility, which led to many of the problems it experienced. With one side facing 14th Avenue and privately owned land separating it from Hilyard and Patterson Streets, the park is otherwise surrounded by building, fences and trees.
Weber said after the park’s closure, the Eugene City Council searched for options to improve it, such as purchasing land to extend its boundaries to a nearby street such as Hilyard Street. However, purchasing more land for the park was too costly for the city at the time.
Ward 3 City Councilor David Kelly said purchasing adjacent property to extend the park’s boundaries to either Hilyard or Patterson Street is a possibility now, but nothing is currently planned by the city.
Kelly also said there has been interest by property developers to purchase the park from the city and build residential housing on the site. However, he added that careful consideration would have to be taken before any plans to sell the park were to be made.
“We shouldn’t sell it to the highest bidder,” Kelly said. “We have to determine what would be best for that site.”
The West University Neighborhood Association will hold a meeting on Nov. 5 to discuss issues regarding the area, including the West University Neighborhood Park. The meeting will be held at Central Presbyterian Church, 555 E. 15th Ave., Room 121 at 7 p.m. For more information regarding the meeting, contact City Neighborhood Liason Steve Norris at 682-5009.