Eugene weekly., January 14, 2016, Page 8, Image 8

NEWS
• 350 Eugene is having a New Year’s gathering
from 7 to 9 pm Thursday, Jan. 14, at the First United
Methodist Church, 1367 Olive Street. The agenda
includes an expert panel on Oregon’s Healthy
Climate Bill and updates on climate campaigns.
• A rally for raising the minimum wage to $15
will be at 3:45 pm Thursday, Jan. 14, the Oregon
State Capitol. A joint committee public hearing will be
at 6 pm that day (not 4 pm as earlier announced)
with opportunities to sign up to testify. Carpooling is
planned from Eugene and elsewhere in Oregon. See
15noworegon.org to get on the mailing list.
• The NAACP of Lane County is presenting
“Community Conversations: Building Unity in our
Community,” a series of five public meetings on
race, privilege and equity. The first is from 5:30 to 8
pm Thursday, Jan. 14, at the EWEB Community
Room, North Building, 500 E. 4th Ave. Additional
meetings will be at the same time and place on the
second Thursday of each month through May.
Reservations requested through naacplanecounty.
org or the Facebook page.
• Eugene PeaceWorks’ general weekly meetings
regarding KEPW Homegrown Community Radio have
changed back to 6 pm Thursdays (task force
meetings are at 5 pm) at Growers Market upstairs at
454 Willamette Street. Find KEPW on Facebook.
• The Eugene Sustainability Commission Climate
Change Committee meets at 2 pm Thursday, Jan.
14, at the Atrium Room 250, 99 W. 10th Ave.
• The Eugene Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory
Committee meets at 5:30 pm Thursday, Jan. 14, at
the Atrium Sloat Room, 99 W. 10th Ave. The Railroad
Quiet Zone is on the agenda.
• The Eugene Police Commission meets at 5:30
pm Thursday, Jan. 14, at EPD Headquarters Kilcullen
Room, 300 Country Club Road. Time is allowed for
public comments.
• Artists and writers for Bernie Sanders will hold
a “Bernie Readout and Exhibit” from 6:30 to 9:30 pm
Thursday, Jan. 14, at Tsunami Books, 2585
Willamette Street. Email pittore44@yahoo.com to
participate.
• A public forum on the TransPacific Partnership
will be at 1 pm Saturday, Jan. 16, at the UA Local 290
Plumbers and Steamfitters union training center at
2861 Pierce Parkway in Springfield.
• A celebration of life for longtime activist Peg
Morton will be from 2 to 4 pm Saturday, Jan. 16, at
First United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive Street.
Morton died Dec. 19 at the age of 85 (see cover story
last week). Music at the celebration will include the
Raging Grannies and the Eugene Peace Choir.
Morton’s autobiography will be for sale at the event.
Call Community Alliance for Lane County at 485-
1755 or email calcpeace@efn.org.
• A volunteer training for the annual Homeless
Point in Time Count will be from 3 to 5 pm Tuesday,
Jan. 19, at 151 W. 7th Ave. RSVP to calcpeace@efn.
org. The survey, done in collaboration with Lane
County Human Services Division, will be conducted
Wednesday, Jan. 27, and will include people
sleeping on the streets, in cars, parks, shelters and
other places not meant for human habitation.
Information gathered will be used in multiple efforts
to end homelessness in the county.
LANE COUNTY AREA
SPRAY SCHEDULE
Giustina Land and Timber Company, 345-2301,
plans to hire Western Helicopter, 503-538-9469, to
aerially spread urea fertilizer pellets on 3 units
totaling 454.6 acres near Jones Creek and Hall Road
and near Goldson Road off of Hwy. 36. See ODF
notification 2016-781-00296; call Robin Biesecker
at 998-2283 with questions.
Compiled by Jan Wroncy and Gary Hale, ForestlandDwellers.
org, 342-8332.
8
January 14, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com
CITY HALL COSTS GO UP,
TIMELINE LENGTHENS
The projected cost of Eugene’s new City Hall has now
risen after city councilors requested that city staff look into
boosting the new four-story structure’s ability to withstand a
severe earthquake.
“We asked the city manager to investigate looking into
that standard. He said, ‘Yeah, but it’ll cost more,’” said Coun-
cilor Alan Zelenka in an interview with EW. The conversation
on altering City Hall’s structure took place at the last City
Council meeting in December, he says.
Zelenka said council members want to upgrade the build-
ing’s seismic resistance from the “life safety” standard to the
“essential facility” standard, because of the recently well-
publicized threat of a major West Coast earthquake in a New
Yorker article.
The “life safety” standard, set by the Oregon Structural
Specialty Code, allows people to get out safely in the event of
a major earthquake. The “essential facility” standard allows
people to get out safely and keeps the building functioning
after the quake.
“It’s designed to not only allow people to safely get out of
the building, but it would still be functioning after a seismic
event of some scale,” says city spokesperson Jan Bohman of
the new standard. She later added that the city doesn’t yet
know how much the new upgrade will add to the existing $15
million construction cost of the site. The city will select the
winning bid for the construction this spring.
“I can tell you that when the City Council reviewed the
schematic design, and in conversations since, given all the in-
creased knowledge and awareness of potential seismic events
here, councilors have indicated an interest in upgrading the
seismic standard of the building,” Bohman wrote in an email
to EW.
One of the major criticisms of the old City Hall at East
8th Avenue was its lack of earthquake readiness. The original
50-year-old City Hall building was demolished in early 2015,
amid a sustained and heated community protest to keep the
structure intact and instead renovate its existing features for
what was said to be a lesser price tag — a projected $12 mil-
lion.
Additionally, the completion of the new City Hall at East
8th Avenue is now delayed by a year; it was scheduled to be
finished by the end of 2016, according to the timeline on the
city’s website. Bohman now says it will be about two years,
the end of 2017, until the doors open on the new building.
The new plans for City Hall still include space for a public
plaza (complete with a water fountain) and parking lot on the
west side of the block. Lane County’s Board of Commission-
ers floated the idea of building a new county courthouse on
the same site as City Hall at a public hearing with the Eugene
City Council in June 2014.
There are no approved plans yet to build a new courthouse
next to the new City Hall. — Jeslyn Lemke
YOU SAY KESEY SQUARE,
THEY SAY PARK BLOCKS
Bring up the topic of Kesey Square and the importance
of downtown open public space with city of Eugene officials
and you can expect the conversation to be steered to the Park
Blocks.
Kesey Square has problems, city employees say, including
issues of design, the preponderance of “travelers” dominat-
ing the space, the simple fact that it’s flat and that people just
don’t want to be there.
The issue of public space downtown became a hot-button
issue in October after a group of local developers proposed to
the city that they would like to purchase the public parcel of
land that is Kesey Square and put up an apartment building in
its place with retail.
The group — headed by Rowell Brokaw Architecture (the
same firm that City Manager Jon Ruiz appointed to work on
City Hall) and downtown business owner Kaz Oveissi — says
it intends to request a Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption
(MUPTE) and a loan from the city for the project. Oveissi
told EW in January that, if approved, they were hoping to start
construction on Kesey Square this spring in conjunction with
another building project across the street.
“What about the Park Blocks?” Councilor Pryor mused
during one interview in November. “Those were intended to
be public gathering spaces.”
It seems, however, that the Park Blocks may be even more
problematic than the city’s claims about Kesey Square.
Just ask Larry Oswald, owner of Toadstool Cupcakes. Os-
wald recently closed his two cupcake shops in Eugene, one
of which faced the Park Blocks at 868 W. Park Street. He
recently relocated the business to Portland.
“It’s the worst place downtown to be,” Oswald said of the
Park Blocks in a Jan. 11 interview. “There’s a huge problem
in the Park Blocks that is totally being overlooked.”
Oswald explained that in the southwest Park Block, the
one closest to his store, 30 to 50 people — what the city might
call “travelers” — gather daily. He said he saw abuse, drug
use and public defecation. The city brought in Porta Potties,
which Oswald said attracted more people.
The condition of the Park Blocks, however, is not the only
reason Oswald is moving his business.
“One of the main reasons that we did leave is the plans for
the four-story building going in the parking lot,” Oswald said.
“We’ll be in a construction zone for over a year,” adding “it
was going to be horrendous for business.”
Oswald is speaking of the new development — 33 E.
Broadway — being built this spring across from Kesey
Square by the Rowell Brokaw Architecture and Kaz Oveissi
group.
As for the Park Blocks, in the three years Toadstool was
open, Oswald said he didn’t see the city do much to address
the problems. “I saw it get worse and worse and worse.”
So what is happening with the Park Blocks?
“We haven’t been given any directives to go develop a
new plan for the Park Blocks right now,” Craig Carnagey,
the city of Eugene’s parks and open space director, told EW
in December.
The Park Blocks fall under the management of the Parks
and Open Space department, but Carnagey said the depart-
ment cannot re-design the site without a directive from the
City Council. Currently, Carnagey said his department is
working on a more holistic approach to all city parks and
open space.
But Carnagey adds, at least anecdotally, that he does hear
safety complaints about the Park Blocks. He said there have
been successful programming efforts, but design issues need
to be addressed.
Councilor Pryor, even though he said he prioritizes invest-
ment in the Park Blocks as public space more than Kesey
Square, also noted the Park Blocks need help.
“If you look at the Park Blocks, they’re not that great,”
he said. “Right now, we don’t have good public engagement
space.”
It may seem strange to some that the city is dismissive
of Kesey Square, but encouraging of the Park Blocks, which
seems to suffer from similar problems, only more intensely.
The Eugene City Council held its first work session and
meeting about the Park Blocks and open space downtown
Jan. 11; no decisions were made except to gather information.
Several councilors noted that the Park Blocks are extremely
underutilized and that the surrounding businesses literally
have their backs to the square.
For five-plus years, the city has had access to $500,000 in
urban renewal funds for improvement and rehabilitation of
the Park Blocks. The Urban Renewal District expires in 2017,
after which the $500,000 will no longer be available.
The city of Eugene is accepting RFEIs for Kesey Square
through Jan. 15. In February, the City Council will consider
options for Kesey Square.
To read an extended version of this article, visit eugene-
weekly.com. — Alex V. Cipolle