Tuition may freeze
for two more years
See page 3
Oregon daily
emerald
Tuesday, June 26, 1984
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 86, Number 3
Parking lot threatens campus garden
By Paul Ertelt
Of the Emerald
The whole situation reminds
Sue Aller of the lyrics to an old
Joni Mitchell song: “They pav
ed paradise and put up a park
ing lot.”
The Courtyard on 13th
Avenue is an ideal location for
Aller's two businesses. The Eye
of the Needle and Spinskins,
where she designs and
manufactures clothing for
bicyclists, Aller says.
But Sacred Heart Hospital’s
plan to convert the courtyard in
to a parking lot is threatening
Aller’s businesses and several
other establishments.
In May the hospital, which
owns much of the block,
notified Aller and the owners of
Lenny’s Nosh Bar, Sahalie
Natural Foods and The Eugene
Trading Co. that they must
vacate by August 31.
Frank Mowreader, owner of
The Cycle Works bike shop on
13th Avenue, holds the lease
from the hospital and sublets to
the other businesses. But
Mowreader failed to renew his
option in April, so the hospital
sent out the notices.
Mowreader did renew the op
tion on his bike shop, and that
business will be spared.
Lenny Nathan, whose
popular eatery bears his name,
is not happy about being forced
to move after spending five
years building his business
there. He estimates he has in
Lenny Nathan
vested $60,000 and in
numerable hours in the
restaurant and says he is just
beginning to see a return on that
investment.
“I’m looking forward to my
best two years,” he says. “This
is my best shot.”
Hospital officials say it is not
their intention to destroy the
neighborhood, and they will
welcome any alternative.
“Everyone agrees that flat
land parking is the worst use of
space possible,” says Alan Yor
dy, community relations
manager for the hospital. “The
bottom line is making parking
convenient, especially for the
elderly who come to the
hospital.”
Now it is up to the city to
come up with an alternative
parking plan if the businesses
are to be saved, Yordy says.
Meanwhile city represen
tatives are working to come up
with a solution they hope can
forestall the hospital’s plan.
Although there is no panacea,
city planners hope they can
come up with enough parking
spaces to satisfy the hospital,
says Jim Hanks, Eugene traffic
engineer.
“As a city, we don’t want to
be in the business of taking
businesses out,” Hanks says.
The hospital’s parking pro
blem stems from the West
University Neighborhood park
ing program which went into ef
fect last January, Yordy says.
That program limits parking
time for commuters who do not
purchase monthly permits.
Because they can no longer
park on the street, Sacred Heart
employees now are competing
with patients and visitors for
spaces on the hospital’s lots,
Yordy says.
The experimental program is
being financed in part by a
$293,000 grant from the Urban
Mass Transit Administration.
Stipulations of the federal grant
require the city to keep the pro
gram for at least two years.
Despite opposition to the pro
gram from the hospital, the city
Photo by Michael Clapp
The west-side windows of Sacred Heart Hospital may soon reflect a bare parking lot instead of
The Courtyard ‘garden’ of businesses on 13th Avenue.
has no intention of scrapping it,
Hanks says. But he says there
are other solutions.
There are about 20 parking
spaces within a 2 Vx block radius
that can be made available to
the hospital, Hanks says. He
also is considering the possibili
If no alternative solution can
be reached, both the city and
the hospital say they will help
the businesses relocate. Ar
rangements have already been
made for Sahalie to move into
the building once occupied by
Bob’s Superette, which the
“I’m just a little guy between two giants. ”
—Sue Aller
ty of working out an arrange
ment with nearby apartment
complexes whose parking
spaces are often empty during
the day.
But the parking problem is
aggravated by the hospital’s
“short stay” program, which
brings increased traffic to the
area, Hanks says. Also, the
failure of the hospital to provide
an adequate place for bicycles
has discouraged this alternative
transportation, he says.
hospital also owns.
But Nathan says much of his
investment is in improvements
that will be lost if he is forced to
move.
“It’s in the plumbing, it’s in
the floors. What do I do, move
those boards?” Nathan asks,
pointing to the floor of his
restaurant.
Nathan and Aller hold
subleases from Mowreader that
do not run out for another two
years. Though hospital officials
have talked about compensating
them for moving out, no dollar
amounts have been discussed.
Also, Aller says her tailor
shop does most of its business
with University students, and
finding suitable rental space in
the area is next to impossible.
Though she says she must
consider her situation from a
strictly business perspective,
Aller believes The Courtyard of
fers an atmosphere which is
missing in other locations.
“It’s not stark or sterile,’’ she
says. “There are trees here,
there are flowers. It’s like living
in a garden.’’
Though she is hopeful that
some solution can be reached,
Aller feels a little helpless in the
situation.
“I’m just a little guy between
two giants,” Aller says. “I don’t
want to get squashed between
the city and the hospital.”
Representatives of the city,
the hospital and the businesses
met Monday morning to discuss
the situation, but no decision
has been made.
Battle brews between baseball club, student groups
By Julie Shippen
Of the Emerald
Local baseball fans may be quenching
their thirst with a different brew if the in
fluences of the ASUO executive staff and
other campus groups prove successful.
On Wednesday, ASUO vice president
Marc Spence wrote a letter asking Tom
Leip, assistant general manager of the
Eugene Emeralds Baseball Club, to stop
serving Coors beer at home games
because “the Coors company represents
beliefs and practices that we do not wish
to support with our patronage.’’
Until April, Coors beer was not allow
ed in Oregon because it isn’t pasteurized
and can only be sold in kegs. But the real
sparks of controversy lay with the com
pany’s labor practices and the alleged
racial views of its chairman.
“The Coors company is extremely
anti-union,” says Sherri Schultz, ASUO
executive assistant. “They require lie
detector tests and forced physical sear
ches (of their employees).
“Coors himself is extremely right
wing and has made statements regarding
blacks as being intellectually inferior,”
Schultz says.
Since the union’s 1977 decertification,
which resulted from a company strike,
there has been a nationwide boycott of
Coors by the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters
Union and other civil rights and en
vironmental groups. The ASUO’s stand
is supported by the Clergy and Laity
Concerned and University Democrats.
Schultz says the Em’s Club probably is
not the first area seller of Coors beer to
receive boycott requests.
“I think that there are other taverns
that have stopped serving Coors as a
response to the pressure, and I hope
there will be more that follow suit,” she
says.
Because many students attend the
local baseball games, the ASUO ex
ecutive staff hopes Leip will give them
‘‘the opportunity to enjoy good baseball
without supporting Coors products,” ac
cording to the letter.
‘‘We feel it’s important as Coors is
aiming its market at students, because
it’s a large population and most of them
drink beer,” Schultz says. ‘‘That’s why
we decided to send the letter to the
Em’s.”
Leip, on the other hand, believes he is
serving baseball fans by selling Coors, as
it is one of the most popular brands, he
says.
“Our position on the matter is that it’s
the second-largest-selling beer in Lane
County, and our fans deserve that kind of
consideration,” Leip says. “That’s why
we’re serving it at the ball park.”
As to whether the club will consider
the ASUO’s request when purchasing
beer for future home games, Leip re
mains uncertain.
“I really don’t know that it will,” he
says. “We’re definitely taking note of
that, though. We try to remain open
minded about these things. The people
that write these letters are basesball fans,
and they deserve consideration as well.”