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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1963)
Page 10A" EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD, Sunday, Jan. 13, 1S63 . Elder9 s Compromise atr-.iaa Plan For University Use of Cemetery Land Causes Comment By DON ROBINSON or me ReiUur-Guard ' State Rep. Ed Elder has yet to know whether his idea will be buried in a cemetery for the brilliant or a junkyard for the absurd. , The idea is something he con aiders a compromise solution to , a problem that really began with newsmaking events in 1873, The events, of that year: Pur chase by the Odd Fellows Lodge of 10 acres of land for a ceme tery; and the beginning of con struction on Deady Hall, first building at the University of Oregon. Much Response . . The problem today: The university wants the cemetery, now 16 acres, for academic buildings but cemetery sympa thizers want no headstone over turned for such a purpose. ' Elder's idea: Retain the ceme tery, keeping the graves where they are, but erect university buildings over them supported above the ground on columns. Since Elder publicly broached his buildings-on-stilts sugges tion at a service club luncheon last month public response has ranged from encouraging to less encouraging. One anonymous citizen remarked, As an arch! tcct Elder would make a good sheriff." The mild-mannered state rep resentative, who was Lane Coun ty's sheriff before he got into the Legislature and had to tus sle with such problems as land acquisition for public colleges, is by now accustomed to side long looks when he first tells people about his idea. He does not intend, "as the saying goes in the Legislature, to die for it.' " But he explains, "A lot of people tell me at first, 'Ed, that's crazy.' Then they think it over a while and they begin to say maybe it has some merit after all. I intend to keep proposing it until someone shows me they have a better plan. That stops all arguments so far." This, more or less, is the way Eugene architect King Martin described the evolution of his thinking about Elder's idea. At the legislator's request Martin drew some sketches of how ele vated buildings might look in the cemetery. Hat Possibilities Martin said the idea has pos sibilities if you assume 1) that the cemetery people and the university can't get together on moving tho graves and building ground-level structures, and 2) that the university must put buildings there. The advantage, Martin explained, is that Elder's plan provides for both uses. - He acknowledged that there would be problems, but claimed none are insurmountable. . JOE DANIEL President Camera Club Members Pick Officers The Eugene Camera Club has elected Joe Daniel, of 2105 Rivervipw St.', as its president for 1063. Other new officers aro Frank Hickcnbotlom. vice president; Herbert Ezcll, secretary; and Leo R. T. Burton, treasurer. The officers will take over when the club meets Monday, at 8 p.m., in the basement of the Eugene Water & Electric Board Bide., at 50U E. Fourth Ave. - Visitors arc always welcome at the meetings, held the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Monday night's progrom will feature a demonstration by How ard Lewis of darkroom tech niques, tricks in projection printing and coyping. For further information about the club call OI 4 8851 or Dl 4-5597. Consulates to Close WASHINGTON IP The Unit ed Slates will close i number of smaller consulates around -the world in an effort to stream line consular service, authorita tive sources report. By last count the United States had 180 consular offices; 68 consulates general, 86 consulates and 16 consular, agencies. He said a plot map of grave locations indicates that struc tural supports could be placed logically with no disturbance of Braves., He said the movements of heavy .machinery during con struction could be managed by planking-over the graves. - He said the cost would be greater than ground-level build ings but not excessively so. "Many times this typo of con struction has been done delib erately on open ground for bet ter flow of traffic," Martin stated. . He suggested that tho graves could be marked discreetly, per haps by flat markers, If neces sary walkways between build ings could be elevated (as shown in the accompanying sketch). All in all, Martin asserted, "It could be a place of beauty and serve two purposes." Bill Wilson, Eugene struc tural engineer, said ho could not otter a specific opinion without seeing a specific pro posal. He noted In general that there would be problems of de signing a building with column and fooling locations to miss the graves and that "working on tho site and avoiding the graves with equipment would be an extremely difficult thing." ' But Wilson, too, said these practical obstacles probably could be surmounted. 12th Annual Conference Set at UO The University of - Oregon School of Music is making prep arations for the 12th Annual Conference on Music Education, to be held in the Erb Memorial Student Union, Thursday through Saturday. Clinics and lectures, reading sessions, concerts and exhibits have been arranged for the con ference in addition to a banquet. Max Risingcr, assistant dean of tho School of Music, will be loastmastcr. Louis Arnoud Reid professor of philosophy at the University 'of London who is now is a visiting professor at the University of Oregon, .will be principal speaker. Other conference speakers will be William Billingslcy. member of tho Spokano Sym phony Orchestra and professor of brass instruments at the Uni versity of Idaho; Richard For rin who directs tho Opera Or chestra at the University of Washington where he is a facul ty member; and Fred Hempkc, music instructor at Northwest ern University, and noted solo ist and lecturer. Also scheduled to speak ore Irwin Hoffman, conductor of the Vancouver, B.C. Symphony Or chestra; Ann Kern, a former elementary music specialist In Colorado, now employed as a clinician for a music publishing house; and Lynn Sjolund, choral director at Medford High School and former Oregon Music Edu cators Assn. choral chairman. Registration will take place. at 8 a.m.. Friday and Saturday in the student union. Advance registration moy be made by mail. Tho three-day' meeting will include conference sessions di vided into four categories; chor al, general music education, Oregon String Teachers Assn. and band -wind instrument. Chairmen for these sessions arc Risingcr, Dorothy Wilson, Rob ert Hladky, and Robert Vagner, all faculty members In the U of O School of Music. Following the banquet Friday night, the School of Music faculty will present I public concert at 8 p.m. in the School of Music auditorium. Dual Use If the buildings were multi story structures there would be cost differential compared with ground-level buildings but one not too great, Wilson es timated. The center of opposition to the university using the ceme tery is the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery Assn., many of whose : 400 members have relatives buried there. Non-committal Three of the seven members of that organization's board of directors Chairman Odcn Mon jay, Mrs. Louis Koppc, and Ed win Hansen were contacted about Elder's idea. All three clung to a non-committal attitude. They said, as they told Eldor when he talked to them, that before passing judgment they want to see a specific proposal from the uni versity. They did not sound en thusiastic about the concept of buildings on stilts abovo graves, but neither would they reject it at this point. IRWIN HOFFMAN Conductor 600 to Play In Concert For Strings Irwin Hoffman, conductor of tho Vancouver Symphony in British Columbia, will be in Eu geno Saturday to conduct I string concert featuring Eugene and Springfield public school students. The concert will be held at McArthur Court at 4 p.m. It will be a port of the Annual Confer ence on Music Education spon sored by the University of Ore gon. String players in Springfield junior and senior high schools and in all levels of Eugene schools will participate. The number has been estimated at (ilHI. The concert will be open to the public without charge. By ron Miller, music consultant for Eugene schools, and Floyd El lefson of Springfield schools are in charge of the program. The university's representative aid ing the effort is James Hladky, associate professor of violin cello. Tagus Bridge LISBON (.n The first con crete and steel pillar base was installed this week for a 6.400 foot, $60 million bndc.c over the Tagus River in suburban Alcantara. . The solution to the Pioneer cemetery problem proposed by State Rep. Ed Elder is represented in this architect's sketch. Done by Eugene architect King Martin the picture shows a num ber of buildings resting on columns above the ' graves. This sketch also shows elevated walk ways to show that this, too, is possible not necessarily essential. Elder claims his idea would give the university the buildings it wants and still preserve the cemetery as those oppos On the other hand, two men connected with the Pioneer Memorial Park Assn., the or ganization that holds legal title to the cemetery and is generally friendly to the university's de sires, were unimpressed. "I can't conceieve of it being taken seriously," said John Luvaas, attorney for the asso ciation. Prohibitive cost, the impos sibility of landscaping under the buildings, and the fact that the university would still have to acquire the cemetery land were cited by Luvaas as major flaws in the idea. (On the landscaping point Martin mentioned the possible use of ground cover, perhaps "handsome textures of gravol or sands, or even interesting pavings to act as circulation ways,") - (Elder argues, too, that the extra cost of elevating the buildings would be at least par tially offset by saving what he estimated as a cost of $1.5 mil lion for moving the graves. Expressway Amendment Civic Affairs Committee To Hear Report Tuesday Eugene's Committo on Neigh borhood and' Community Af fairs will hear a report Tuesday night on tho expressway charter amendment passed by voters last year. Tho speaker will be Vince Farina, member of the Eugene Planning Commission. His top ic: "Limitation of the Express way Charter Amendment and Its Effect on Future Arterial Planning." The planning commission and Bethel Water Dist. To Give EWEB Expansion Plans Representatives of the Bethel Water District will explain their expansion plans and ask per mission to enlarge their boun daries at the Eugene Water & Electric Board's first regular meeting of 1963 Monday night EWEB supplies water to the district. The board will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the EWEB office at 500 E. Fourth Ave. In other business, the board will elect its officers, appoint its staff and study several proj ect proposals, including one to extend the steam heat system to provide service to Sacred Heart Hospital. State Man, 79, Dies in Flames OREGON CITY OTP Samuel Franklin Robinson, 79. died in a fire in his trailer house near the community of Barton on the Clackamas River early Satur day. The Clackamas County sher iff's office reported Robinson's body was found about eight feet outside the trailer. His clothes had been burned off. Sheriff's deputies surmised he got out of bed about 2 a.m. to replenish the fire in a stove and the stove became overheated. ing removal of the graves desire. The buildings in this sketch happen not to have windows. That is another issue in modern school construc tion, and their absence here is coincidental. Those who like windows should imagine them there. The Elder idea has stirred imaginations and raised a variety of questions which, with some people's answers,' are elaborated in the accompanying article. ' University officials have previ ously quoted this cost at about $750,000.) Sidney Claypool, board mem ber of the Pioneer Memorial Park Assn., said, "I think Elder means well and that the idea merits some consideration but not very much." He pointed out the loss of first floors and base ments. 'Expensive' "It would be expensive; I don't' think you could do a good job of it; and you would be losing 16 acres of good building space on that lower floor and base ment. That's my feeling," Clay pool summarized. Another individual, George Svarverud of Eugene, quickly dismissed the proposal. "No one I know of takes it at all seriously. It's almost like some comical suggestion it is so far fetched from anything prac tical," Svarverud remarked. Svarverud's father ,'was a member of the original ceme tery board. Svarverud himself some city council members con tend the amendment has made it impossible for the city to plan and carry out an arterial street program. The neighborhood committee, a citizen's advisory group, will meet at 7:30 p.m., in the council chambers at the city hall. The public is welcome to attend. One matter on the agenda is a report from the group's steer ing committee on a request by the Eugene Homcbuilders Assn. that the Eugene Planning Com mission membership include a building subdividcr. The mayor of the city appoints the seven member planning commission. WNF Allocated $50,000 'Relief The Willamette National For est was given $50,000 "relief money" this week in a special allocation of funds by Secre tary of Agriculture Orville Free man. According to the forest su pervisor, David Gibncy, the money will be spent on projects in Linn County, which has been designated an area of unusual unemployment. Freeman allocated $10 mil lion to national forest projects in 32 states. In October, he dis pensed $15 million on such proj ects under the program en acted by Congress last year to provide jobs in labor surplus areas. Gibncy said about $30,000 of the special funds will be spent on building a new ranger sta tion at Swecthome. 'Cleo' Commands New Admission Top NEW YORK The film "Cleopatra" will have thee high est box office scale ever set for a movie a $5.50 top. The movie starring Eliza beth Taylor, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison will have a simultaneous premiere in 70 cities in the United States and Canada starting June 12. 20th Century Fox announced Friday. has expressed his own interest through frequent letters to the editor of the Register-Guard. He said the university would still have to obtain power to condemn the cemetery and this, in his view, is "the real crux of the matter." (The Pioneer Memorial Park Assn. owns all the land in the cemetery. Plot owners possess perpetual easements rights to use the graves. In order to build there the university would have to acquire both title to the land from the Pioneer Memorial Park Assn. and easement rights from individual plot owners whether this be by purchase, gift or condemnation. (Since the Elder proposal has not yet reached the office of the State Board of Higher Edu cation, that board's attorney. Wolf vonOttcrstedt, said he has not had an opportunity to de termine whether it would alter lICIIKIVJrillSALE STARTS 1 AT' It UDJJlW f mi Fabric Sale COTTONS INVENTORY CLEARANCE of assorted cot tons in prints solids. Hun dreds Door 4 m$mk NEWBERRYS the necessity of the state ac quiring the land and the ease ment rights.) Svarverud noted, and several others confirmed, that the idea of elevated buildings was dis cussed several years ago. Elder agreed, although he said he didn't learn of the previous dis cussions until he had already conceived the idea independent ly and talked it over with a number of people. Wallace Haydcn,.head of the University of Oregon's architec ture department, strongly op poses Elder's suggestion. He said the two uses university buildings and a burial grounds are incompatible. "To build buildings on stilts would desecrate the cemetery. It would be a travesty," Hayden declared. He argued that the chief characteristic of the ceme tery is that graves are marked with monuments, and these cannot be laid on their sides. Rejected Claims Hayden rejected as not par allel Elder's reference to West minster Abbey and some Vati can buildings being erected over graves. "A church built over a graveyard is quite a different thing from a women's gym or a science lab," Hayden said. "If we were pushed to the MONDAY MORNING W n n n r .-.a v r.MfrdL.i.j,.riJ,.r.ifrd c - XC Vv X V UPHOLSTERY CLEARANCE SALE - Nylon Frieze in new rich colors of browns greens golds gTays plus many more. All 54" wide Amount limited, so be early for your choice selection. Door opens 9:30. Ii on Full Bolts 2.99 to 1 0.95 Yard Better Quality Drip Drys Machine Washable Little or No Ironing New Fashion Prints Ii on Full Bolts A large assortment of attractive new prints in the new '63 fash ion colors over 2.000 Yard Selection. of uses. open 9:30. Yds. 1 1 17 IL JL Z " V ' point that this is the only place left we should simply forego any cemetery," Hayden said, meaning it would be better to build ordinary buildings and forget about combined use.' His own preference, assum ing that it is not absolutely cs--scntial for the university to build on this .land, is to leave the cemetery as it is and to erect structures around it, not on it. - ' The Elder proposal caught William Walsh, president of the State Board of Higher Educa tion, by surprise. When con tacted by telephone last week the Coos Bay attorney said he hadn't heard of the idea. He dc- , clined any comment, saying, "I'm too ignorant of the plan to judge the matter right now." University of Oregon Presi dent Arthur Flemming, with whom Elder talked about his plan last October, said-this sug gestion is being studied by an "internal" administration group as one aspect of the entire cemetery problem. He offered no personal opinion in the meantime. This group's report will guide Flemming in advising the chan cellor's office and the State Board of Higher Education on the cemetery problem in all its aspects. As of now permission to acquire the cemetery land is expected to be part of the state board's submission to the 1963 legislature. Such permission ' was denied by the 1959 and 1961 Legisla tures. Elder said he could not vote for it in 1963 and doubts that it would get past the Legis lature. - Not Part of Any Bill , Elder said he docs not intend to make his idea part of any legislation. "The next move is up to the State Board of Higher Education," he said. ' He said the way things would move if the idea were accepted would be for the State Board of Higher Education and the university to present to the members of the Eugene Ceme- . tcry Assn. a plan incorporating the1 use of elevated buildings. If these people approve the plan and drop their opposition to the university's acquiring the land, the university could come to the Legislature with its re quest for permission to acquire the land, while committed to re taining the cemetery and using elevated buildings. That is where the Elder idea stands now. The opinions about it are hardly uniform, but few would disagree with the musing of architect Martin: ." "It is intriguing." f . 9:30 A.M. 0 Fancy Style Seersucker Reg. 79 c -98 c Yd. New for spring Seersucker drip drys all first quality fab rics in stripes and something new too. Novelty finishes. Sale begins at 9:30. $j97 Jl Yd.
