SLANT
• We lamented in this column Aug. 14 that Eugene City Hall is about to be destroyed
following a split decision by the City Council to abandon the sustainable concept of
repairing, rebuilding or repurposing the full city block structure. Rowell Brokaw Architects
and city leaders are planning a brief celebration of “Eugene City Hall Past & Future” from
11 am to noon Wednesday, Sept. 3, at the corner of 8th and Pearl. “We will honor the
history of the building and look forward to our new City Hall,” reads the announcement.
Will a wrecking ball be standing by to try to put an end to the growing objections? City Hall
was an impressive, award-winning structure before it was purposely allowed to
deteriorate. There’s a bit of irony in “honoring” the history of this building: Eugene has a
shameful track record of bulldozing rather than renovating its architectural landmarks.
One disturbing aspect of this decision to tear down City Hall is that we only have
rough estimates of what the new City Hall will cost. No actual bids have been received. If
the bids come in high, we could end up with just a big parking lot. The plan also assumes
city voters in the future will approve a roughly $60 million bond measure to expand the
ceremonial itty-bitty City Hall to accommodate the city offices now scattered around
downtown at a cost of $1.2 million a year. That’s a huge gamble. Finally, we hear through
the grapevine that the city has received an offer to buy or lease the entire City Hall block.
Let’s talk about that before we start ripping up an entire two-level block of reinforced
concrete with its 160 underground parking spaces.
City Hall
PasT & FuTure
eugene
Wednesday,
September 3, 2014
11 a.m.–noon
Corner of 8th avenue
and Pearl street,
parking lot south
of City Hall
Please join Mayor Kitty Piercy, former
mayors, civic and cultural leaders, and
community members in celebrating the
important role of City Hall in the civic
life of eugene.
We will honor the history of the
building and look forward to our new
City Hall that will serve as an accessible,
welcoming center for the community.
For more information,
visit eugenecityhall.com
or call 541-682-5010
• We’ve heard some kickback from our Aug. 14 Slant suggestion that the next
president of the UO regularly invite economics professor Bill Harbaugh to lunch. Our
sources tell us administrators believe such meetings would be unproductive. Harbaugh
is the muckraker who puts up uomatters.com, and he has become a main source for
local, state and even national media poking around the UO. His greatest strength is the
documents he offers, and administrators in Johnson Hall detest the exposure. So, this
public university could open up its actions (“transparency” is the word of the day) under
a new president. It could also approach the athletic/academic rift with more courage. If
neither happens, lunch with Bill is still a good idea.
tomorrow
exchange
buy * sell*trade
• Hey, it’s Labor Day weekend and some of us will be celebrating unions at the
annual Labor Day Picnic (see Biz Beat). But most folks will be enjoying a three-day
weekend with little thought to the social and economic achievements of American
workers who battled big business and government agencies to give us the 40-hour work
week, benefits, living wages and safe and humane working conditions. We owe a lot to
organized labor (yay weekends!) and let’s not forget that the fight continues today. Well-
funded right-wing ideologues are dedicated to throttling the power of working-class
people here in the U.S. and around the world. Neo-feudalism persists in 2014.
• Lane County stopped routine roadside spraying more than a decade ago, but we
hear the conservative group Oregonians for Food and Shelter (OFS) is lobbying the Lane
County Commission to bring back roadside spraying and Commissioner Jay Bozievich is
supporting this effort, maybe even leading it? OFS is Oregon’s largest lobby group for the
chemical, fertilizer and GMO industries. The issue of vegetation management may come
before the commissioners Sept. 9.
• The Napa quake last weekend did a lot of damage and it was only a 6.0 on the
Oh-shit scale. Oregon, of course, is due to experience a much more destructive quake,
but is there any way to know when it’s about to turn our happy town upside down? Native
Americans in the Midwest used to hang bags of rendered bear grease in deer bladders
that were scraped thin enough to be nearly transparent. Shapes would appear in the
grease indicating coming rain, storms, even earthquakes. Might be something to it. After
all, mammals and birds are known to get excited just before seismographs start jumping.
So let’s add a Mason jar of bear grease to our earthquake preparations. If nothing else, it
makes good cakes, or lubricant for those long nights when we huddle together waiting for
the power and water to come back on.
131 E. 5th Av. • 687-2805
Buff aloExchange.com
eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 28, 2014
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