PHOTO BY ALAN ASH
PROBLEMS IN
HISTORIC STONEWORK
AT SKINNER BUTTE
In addition to the historic trolley tracks unearthed
every so often on Willamette Street, Eugene is bursting
with historically significant elements that are out in the
open, like the dry stone retaining wall on the north side
of Skinner Butte built during the Great Depression by
the Civilian Conservation Corps.
It’s a vibrant piece of Eugene’s history, but accord-
ing to local stonemason Alan Ash, a 2012 project along
the wall has compromised the historical integrity of
the stonework, removing historic design features that
cannot be recovered. Ash says the city of Eugene con-
tracted to build a set of steps that have at least 70 design
flaws negatively impacting the longevity and effective-
ness of the steps. Now he’s worried that similar prob-
lems will plague future dry stone projects.
“I love stonework; it’s my thing,” says Ash, a pro-
fessional member and instructor for the Dry Stone
Walling Association of Great Britain who has worked
as a dry stone mason for more than 30 years in projects
including the bridge at Spencer Butte and the Heceta
Head Lighthouse. “This is part of the historical, cul-
tural history of Eugene, and some of our landmarks are
not being treated well.”
Ash says that in 2012, he attended a pre-bid meet-
ing for the project, but because of the short time frame,
Ash decided not to bid, as he was working on another
project and would not be able to complete it in time to
start on the steps. By law, the city is required to take
the lowest-cost qualified bidder, in this case, Oregon
Woods, a local contractor.
Throughout the course of the project, the contrac-
tors made a number of departures from the specifi-
cations, according to the 2012 specs from the city of
Eugene. Ash says the departures include sections of
the wall that replace building stones with gravel, un-
even heights between the supporting walls flanking
the steps, exceeded gap tolerances (the size of a space
between two building stones), gaps filled with small
stones (face pinning) and a complete absence of a foun-
dation stone, filled in with gravel instead. “When you
don’t meet the specs, everything you do saves time and
money,” Ash says.
Jesse Cary-Hobbs with Eugene Parks and Open
Space was contract manager and project inspector for
the project, and he says the steps are “a lovely addition
to the park.” According to Cary-Hobbs, the steps were
created to link the developed part of the Skinner Butte
Park system to the natural landscape of the butte and to
honor the character of the original wall, not perfectly
match it.
Cary-Hobbs says that Oregon Woods encountered
some difficulties working with the stones during the
project, and due to cost and time limitations, he says
that details like height tolerances in the finished project
do not exactly match the original specifications. “When
we are going out of the specifications, those are gener-
ally conversations we are having with the contractor
and saying it’s OK,” he says. And while the columns at
the front of the steps were built to complement the oth-
er stairs around the butte, he says the steps and patched
wall are not meant to duplicate the look and historical
structure of the original.
“We’re in very bad shape financially right now, so
we have to balance who we can get with the best price
we can get. Ultimately, we feel we got the best project
we could get for the money,” Cary-Hobbs says. “Alan
[Ash] would have given us a better project. We recog-
nize the fact that the contractor we had wasn’t at the
same level as Alan, and we weren’t going to get every-
thing we possibly wanted.”
According to the Skinner Butte Master Plan, one of
the goals for the park is to “preserve, enhance and rec-
ognize Skinner Butte Park’s rich natural and cultural
history.” Ash says similar issues affected a project at
Hendricks Park, where the historic stonework in the
picnic shelter was poorly copied. “You ruin the his-
tory and it’s gone,” he says. — Amy Schneider
LADY JANGCHUP PALMO
A couple of big plant sales are happening Saturday,
May 10, just in time for Mother’s Day giving. The eighth
annual Oregon Plant Fair will be from 9 am to 2 pm at the
Alton Baker Park shelters, sponsored by Avid Gardeners
Eugene District Garden Clubs and a benefit for the Master
Gardener Extension Program. The 23rd annual Hardy
Plant Sale will be from 9 am to 2 pm indoors at the
Fairgrounds, a benefit for the nonprofit Willamette Valley
Hardy Plant Group.
May is Bike Month and the Toole Design Group is
contracting with LTD and the city of Eugene to prepare a
feasibility study about a bike share system in Eugene.
An open house will be from 4 to 7 pm Wednesday, May
14, at the Next Stop Center, 1099 Olive. St. Formal
presentations of the study will be at 4 pm and again at 6
pm. Email bikeshare@ltd.org for more information.
The city of Eugene’s Business Commute Challenge is
the week of May 10-16 and it’s an opportunity for friendly
competition among local enterprises to encourage
employees to walk, bike, carpool or telecommute to
work. Last year, 2,100 people representing 172 business
teams participated. See commutechallenge.org for
information and to sign up.
The 39th annual Conference on Neighborhood
Concerns will be at the Hilton in Eugene May 21-24 and
local businesses will be interested in hearing about
trends and directions in the economy, food production,
transportation, public-private partnerships and much
more. Keynote speakers include urban planning expert
Julian Agyeman of Tufts University, Seattle neighborhood
organizer Jim Diers and author and consultant Michele
Hunt. Registration is $100 but scholarships and
discounts may be available. See wkly.ws/1qt or call 682-
5277.
The nonprofit Aprovecho Sustainability Education
Center in Cottage Grove is offering workshops on
permaculture every Sunday this spring on a “gift-
economy basis.” Participants can donate money or
share skills or other forms of compensation. Permaculture
training focuses on natural building, ecological gardening
and farming, and sustainable livelihood. See aprovecho.
net or call Jordan Chesnut at (805) 458-8361.
The Springfield/McKenzie Welcome Arch has been in
the planning process for years and a 5-foot scale model
of the arch is now on display at Springfield City Hall. One
likely location for the full-size gateway arch will be on
Hwy. 126, aka McKenzie Highway, at the east end of
Springfield. The arch, similar in design to one in Glenwood
that was wrecked by a flood in the 1920s, will serve as a
landmark to promote the area and its natural attractions.
The more elaborate new design features a drift boat on
top. Email thomas.lincoln@comcast.net or call 726-1817
to help with the project.
The Eugene-based ECO Sleep Solutions is expanding
to Corvallis and will have its grand opening June 1 at 113
SW 3rd St. The Eugene store and gallery are at 25 E. 8th
Ave. The business, owned by Jim and Donna Byrd,
specializes in organic mattresses, beds and bedding.
Call 343-1022. The company also owns Accessible Bath
Company.
The nonprofit Willamette Riverkeeper is now
registering boaters for its 14th annual Paddle Oregon
Aug. 18-22, often described as an “eco-tourism vacation.”
The 98-mile guided trip by canoe or kayak down the
Willamette River includes environmental education,
catered gourmet meals, yoga, evening entertainment,
hot showers and campsites. The cost is $699 and
opportunities for crowd-sourced fundraising are
available for the first time this year. The trip this year
begins in Corvallis and ends at Molalla State Park in
Canby, stopping at breweries and wineries along the
way. Experienced paddlers only. See details at
paddleoregon.org or see our 2010 cover story at wkly.
ws/1qu.
CORRECTIONS
In our blurb about Edge of the World Games &
Comics in this column April 24, we got the phone
number wrong. Call 688-7529. The new retail store is at
the corner of Hwy. 99 and Barger Drive and sells video
games, comic books and collectable card games.
PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
eugeneweekly.com • May 8, 2014
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