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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 29, 2012)
LET TERS THE POTTY DILEMNA We have 11 restrooms in downtown Eugene that the public can sometimes use: two below the Overpark (the only truly public restrooms), fi ve at the library and one at the LTD station. The ones under the Overpark are not well maintained, have no stall doors, and are frequently locked at random times. People have speculated that these restrooms are closed because they need cleaning and no staff are available to maintain them. At the library, three are open during regular business hours (one on each fl oor for patrons), the one in the lobby is only open during those rare times that the lobby coffee shop is open and the library itself is not (and then only for customers), and the one in the hallway leading to the Ruth Bascom room is only open when events are held in that room. The restroom at the LTD station is open frequently, but only for those who have not been banned from the station for loitering, and it frequently runs out of toilet paper after hours. The Amtrak restroom is open when the station is open, but is technically just for Amtrak customers, though others frequently use it. The 10th restroom is at Greyhound, but staff are pretty vigilant to keep non-customers out, and it is so dirty and unfriendly that most would not choose to use it. The 11th, next door to Pizza Pipeline, is not always open and does not have a posted schedule. Some have suggested it is intended for the security guards who work at the apartment building there. Many businesses in the area don’t have customer restrooms because ADA accessible restrooms are extremely expensive as retrofi ts in older buildings, and the ones that do are careful to keep non-customers out. Anyone taking a stroll through downtown Eugene may at any given time be many blocks from an open restroom. Even if they can fi nd one, it is probably not clean and supplied. This makes an 4 invigorate local economies. The Clear Creek Whitewater Park in Golden, Colo., which was built for $165,000, is now estimated to bring in $1.4 million to $2.1 million in revenue for the city. Eugene’s relatively mild climate, plus its already established system of riverside parks and trails, makes it the perfect place for this kind of project. Add in the UO’s Outdoor Program and the city’s outstanding recreation department, and we have the opportunity to create a truly world-class resource. This idea has been brought up before, but it has somewhat fallen off the radar. Now is the time to really bring it back. Riverside brewpubs and restaurants are cool and all, but come on — we can do much more. Eliot Treichel Eugene STUCK IN THE 1950S unwelcoming atmosphere for everyone, but especially parents with young children, older people and those with mobility related disabilities. Why do you think that is? Sabra Marcroft Eugene possible, I’ll like a dignifi ed place for my dead friends to peacefully rest, a place where I can come to visit them, talk with them, and leave fl owers for them before I go. Hedin Manus Brugh Eugene WE CAN DO MORE TIME FOR NEW CEMETERY To the mayor and city councilors of Eugene: If you will not help the un-housed create a village to house the houseless, and if you will not help the un-housed create a garden so the houseless can feed themselves, then I would respectfully request that you work to create a cemetery for the houseless, because we’re going to need it. You are my representative municipal government I want you to understand that I would rather visit my friends while they are alive. But should that one day not be November 29, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com Kudos to Camilla Mortensen and her cover story “Whither Willamette” [11/15]. While her article focused more specifi cally on planning for the impacts of climate change, any future discussion about how Eugene should best address the Willamette and the riverfront should include plans for a whitewater kayaking park. I’ve seen fi rsthand the impact these projects can have— not just for kayakers and canoeists, but also for fi sherman, tubers, surfers and families. Coupled with habit restoration, these projects have the ability to transform waterways and re- Since the 1970s the people and government of Eugene have had this vision of doing things that benefi ted the community, working within and with the environment that we depend upon. Around 1995 Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey and his puppet masters hijacked that vision by accommodating Hyundai to build a huge computer chip factory on endangered wetlands. Subsequent to that fateful decision the ruling elite accommodated Walmart, Target, Lowe’s and Home Depot. Lane County’s wealthiest families’ and our elected leaders’ vision of Lane County seems to be stuck in the 1950s. Do these “elite” think that all people need are strip malls, big box stores and sports spectacles? Eugene, Springfi eld and Lane County government actions of approving and continuing to build new freeways as well as expanding the Beltline freeway to six lanes to accommodate more big box stores and housing tract sprawl is crystal clear evidence that they suffer from a “vision defi ciency disorder.” Shannon Wilson Eugene
