Environmentalists argue that offi cials should not only
consider the energy effi ciency of a building but the embodied
energy represented in the materials and construction work
used to build it. If one is concerned about greenhouse gas
pollution, it could take half a century for a highly energy
effi cient new City Hall in hydropowered Eugene just to
break even on the embodied energy the city would throw
away in the old building, according to carbon counters.
Poticha said the remodel could easily include
replacing the building envelope, windows, heating and air
conditioning system and adding south facing solar panels
to dramatically reduce energy use. “It would probably be
one of the greenest buildings in town,” Poticha said.
ATTRACTIVE
PIT
The critics of a tear down fear that the alternative to a
remodel could be yet another ugly pit downtown at a time
the city is spending tens of millions of dollars trying to fi ll
the downtown pits it already has.
“It would leave a huge hole,” Taylor said of the teardown.
“You will make the biggest hole the city has ever seen,”
Poticha said. “Do we call it then the Kitty hole or the Ruiz
hole?” he asked.
The city has said that it would pay for a replacement
for the old City Hall with $10 million in “existing funds.”
But Poticha said that would pay to cover only about 10
percent of the site with a small building, leaving the rest as
a parking lot or pit for years.
When or if the city could ever raise the money for later
phases to build a complete new City Hall is unclear.
Meanwhile, the city plan appears to be renting offi ces
scattered around downtown after it tears down its existing
offi ces. That could leave a city with a struggling downtown
already suffering from a lack of a there there with a lack of
a City Hall there as well.
“Most people will not know where City Hall is,”
Poticha said.
“It could go on for years,” Taylor said of the pit and
scattered offi ces plan.
Even some of those who voted for the city plan appeared
concerned about what will come. “We got to make sure
we’re willing to build the new building and not stay forever
in the trailer,” said Councilor Chris Pryor.
But whether the big push to rip out City Hall can be
stopped remains unclear.
City staff and a strong majority of elected offi cials
appear fi rmly behind tearing the building down, whatever
may happen. “I really appreciate this approach,” Mayor
Kitty Piercy said after Penwell’s description of the plan.
Asked why people are so bent on a teardown, Poticha
said, “If your mindset is I want a new house or new
building, you’re going to fi nd every possible way to
convince yourself.”
Taylor said to stop the wrecking ball, “there would have
to be a huge public movement for it.” That could be hard,
considering the city plan is also to avoid a ballot vote.
For $25,000 to $50,000 the city could do a professional
study to fl esh out the cost and feasibility of a remodel,
according to Poticha. “This study will put the matter to bed
as to renovate or demolish,” he emailed city offi cials.
But Poticha didn’t hear back and isn’t very optimistic.
“I think the city manager and the council are tired of the
issue, they want to get on with it.”
ew
R EM O DEL DES IG N BY AN T HO N Y HAS EN BERG
Poticha acknowledges perhaps the strongest reason for
tearing City Hall down. “Everybody says look how ugly
City Hall is, why would you want to save it?” he said.
But Poticha said the building could be extensively
remodeled, ripping off the ugly wood grill that people see
from the street. “You wouldn’t recognize the old City Hall.”
“I understand that was put there to satisfy the timber
industry,” Taylor said of the wood screen, now covered
with peeling paint.
Poticha said the remodel could reconnect the building with
the street by adding ground fl oor offi ces and a plaza at the
southwest corner, as shown in several of his students’ designs
(see below).
Taylor said a big part of the aesthetic problem with the
old building is neglect. “People have wanted to tear that
thing down for so long that they haven’t painted it, they
haven’t cleaned it.”
“They’ve let it go to hell,” Poticha agreed.
Poticha said the better aspects of the building including
its informal openness to the public with offi ces off a central
garden courtyard with trees could be preserved. “There’s
not a city hall in the world like that building,” Poticha said,
pointing out the building design was selected by architects
after a competition.
“A city that has previously squandered most of its
valuable historic buildings cannot afford to tear down the
single best city building we have remaining from the High
Modern era,” Matthews emailed the council. “A state-of-
the-art, rebuilt City Hall can be proud and beautiful, an
expression of our green economic aspirations as well as
our community values.”
OREGON PA
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EUGENE WEEKLY APRIL 7, 2011 13