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