The Eugene City Council has gained another ally in its quest to place a new hospital just north of the University.
Board members of the Fairmount Neighborhood Association, which includes the land where the new hospital would be located, recently said they do not oppose the Riverfront Research Park as an option for the new McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center.
Members of the board discussed their decision Tuesday night with residents of the local neighborhood, which encompasses much of the land to the east and south of the University.
While the overall feeling of the neighbors was that the topic would require more investigation for them to support the site, as a whole they did not immediately oppose the location, said John Barofsky, a member of the FNA Board.
Mary Ann Holser did display her animosity for the location when she stood up and said, “I really want to oppose this.” The Fairmount resident continued, and issued the warning that “we should not look too hastily in this proposal because there are a lot of reasons not to have (the hospital) there.”
The city council has faced some opposition from within its own ranks, in addition to city planners and some residents. The University has not made it easy on the council either, as University officials recently sent the city a list of requirements that would need to be met if it were to relocate the 220,000 square feet of currently used facilities.
Even though the hospital is only planned to cover 27 acres, the University has told the city it must find a full 60-acre plot to relocate University facilities there.
According to University estimates, it would cost the city between $55 million and $110 million to replace the facilities, and take at least five years to move the research park.
City Councilor and Fairmount resident Alan Zelenka attended the meeting and made a brief statement that the city is still interested in the research park site. The council has told staff to “go try again” in their efforts to reach a compromise with the University, he said.
Zelenka said the city council had a hard time swallowing all of the University’s requests, specifically the “all or nothing part” of the complete 60-acre relocation period.
The FNA Board is currently fielding e-mails from residents about the issue in hopes of getting a more definite sense of residents’ approval or distaste for the research park siting plan, and they plan on presenting these findings to the city council.
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