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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 2005)
Discussion on fairground location continues Community members sounded off at Tuesday's meeting BY CHRIS HAGAN NEWS REPORTER Eugene residents voiced their sup port for the Lane County Fairgrounds at a town hall meeting Tliesday night. The meeting, arranged by Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson, was held to assess community opin ions on what to do with the fair grounds property, known as the Lane Events Center. There has been discus sion recently on whether to sell the property and move the fair to another site. Most speakers, many of whom were representatives or members of local businesses and organizations, were concerned about what would happen to their groups if the fairgrounds were moved. “Moving the location of our healthy businesses is scary,” said Beth Little, general manager of the Saturday Mar ket. Many of the vendors at the Satur day Market’s Holiday Market, which takes place at the Events Center, live off the money from the November and December event for months, Little said. Speakers from organizations such as the Willamette Valley Model Railroad Club and the Willamette Valley Arms Collectors Association told of their at tachment to the fairgrounds and the benefits their visitors bring to the city. “We brought in 700 animals, but also thousands of people from all over the world,” said Leslie Hil dreth, coordinator of Black Sheep Gathering. “These people spend money in Eugene.” A major issue has been the econom ic condition of the fair. Fair operations, the money gained from all events at the fairgrounds, have lost money each of the last two fiscal years. The deficits have been covered by excess TVansient Room Taxes, which are taxes on hotel and motel rooms. To cover the $379,670 in losses dur ing the 2005 fiscal year, the fair received more than $307,000 of excess TRT taxes. But some residents questioned the need for a self-sufficient fairgrounds. “We don’t look at parks as a drain or needing to be self-sustaining,” Eugene resident Rachel Kidd said. Kidd stressed the attachment residents have for the fairgrounds beyond the budget deficits and aging facilities. “This is my fair,” Kidd said, “my fairgrounds.” There has been concern about the fairgrounds’ small size and aging facil ities. The Lane County Fair Board has said it does not believe the fair to be vi able at its current site for more than 10 years because of those concerns. The Lane County Board of Commissioners has twice rejected of fers to sell the fairgrounds, once in 2003 and once this year. On Sept. 13, the Commission voted 3-2 to not sell the fairgrounds for 10 years. The hoard also voted 3-2 for the Fair Board to study the problems members are con cerned about, authorizing up to $50,000 for the study. If the fairgrounds is not moved, many say the existing facilities will have to be upgraded. But Fair Board member Bob Zagorin cautioned that new facilities will not be able to upgrade the Events Center to a Class A facility with on-site hotels and other amenities. “The best scenario is a Class B facili ty,” Zagorin said. “We still have aging animal facilities and an aging trade show hall.” Despite the commitments from the Commission and from the communi ty, Zagorin cautioned that more needs to be done. “Just saying we won’t sell for 10 years doesn’t make the issues go away,” Zagorin said. Bonny Bettman, Eugene city coun cilor for the fairgrounds ward, offered suggestions on possible uses for the space. Bettman wants to keep the fair grounds in its current space, but she wishes to keep commercial develop ment off the land if that can’t happen. “It would be most beneficial to the city and the neighborhood for the long-term if it is developed as neighborhoods, if it is not a fair ground,” Bettman said. Bettman is worried that commercial develop ment could hurt traffic in the surrounding neighborhoods. Sorenson was impressed with the optimism and enthusiasm of the speakers. “There was a strong outpouring of support for small businesses,” Sorenson said after the meeting. Sorenson was surprised by the amount of support for businesses rather than just the fair. “There weren’t many people saying ‘the fair is great,’ Sorenson said, “but they instead focused on the other 51 weeks of the year.” Sorenson noticed a dominant theme from the evening’s speakers. “(It is) the idea that this is a public facility and a public space that needs to be protected,” he said. Contact the city and state politics re porter at chagan@dailyemerald. com Katrina: University provides financial assistance to displaced students Continued from page 1 shut down. “We looked for some kind of indica tion of enrollment,” University Director of Admissions Martha Pitts said. Once evidence of enrollment was obtained, the University sought evi dence that students had paid tuition at their home institutions. If students had already paid, their tuition and fees were waived. The University will not ask for reimbursement. “We’re saying: ‘It’s nobody’s fault,”’ University Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke said. “They paid for an education, and we’re happy to help both that student and that institution.” The School of Law began classes on Aug. 17,12 days before Hurricane Kat - rina made landfall, forcing it to act es pecially fast to assist students lot of people would probably come, but we didn’t know. ” Richardson said that because the School of Law has only enrolled two displaced students, it has been easier to offer comprehensive assistance. rrom the New Or leans area. “We of fered room for up to 10 law stu dents to ‘We’re able to do a lot of this because we’re so small” Liane Richardson | assistant dean for student affairs at the School of Law In addition to waiving tu ition, the School of Law waived the re source fees, provided lap tops on loan come here.” Richardson said. “A prob lem with students coming in here is that we start early. We knew that not a and provided free housing. West Pub lishing Co. offered free law textbooks and fellow law students purchased school supplies for the displaced students. “We’re able to do a lot of this because we’re so small,” Richardson said. Richardson credits the strength of the School of Law’s tutorial program with helping law students catch up. Professors have also offered their time to give displaced students extra help, she said. The University will also participate in a program with the Sloan Consor tium, a national group involved in on line education, to offer free online courses to displaced students. The program, called the Sloan Semester, will allow students at the community college, undergraduate and graduate levels to take a variety of courses. The University will offer courses in geology and multicultural arts. The University’s efforts to assist stu dents have caused Pavlich to consider staying in Eugene even after TUlane’s doors reopen. “I’m thinking of staying here perma nently,” Pavlich said. “After the hurri cane, New Orleans has kind of, you know, lost its charm.” Contact the higher education reporter at jbailey@dailyenierald.com Share your space, but live on your own. HP Laptop Bedding mW'—MZM All furnishings pictured are from Wal-Mart. Storage WAL-MART Get everything for your dorm room at Walmart.com and still afford tuition. always low prices Wohnartxom
