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
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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
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' 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 .
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