Eugene City Hall Complex Master Plan

I attended the last community forum that took place to ask Eugene citizens how they wanted the new city hall to look like. Me and my friend Steve were literally the only people in the whole town hall style meeting that were under age 25. Nonetheless, we were able to participate by filling out our ideas, opinions, and thoughts onto a piece of scratch paper that was collected by the staff. I even made a comment towards the end to the whole crowd about how I felt it was important to keep the young people of Eugene involved as well.

A very well thought out powerpoint presentation was displayed with various elements and reasoning behind the design process of the master complex. Many people that gave their input into the design included very sustainable ideas and methodologies.

The main reasons Eugene needs a new city hall:

1) Upgrade current facilities to new Earthquake standards. In the event of a powerful earthquake or major disaster, our first responders could be in danger.

2) Efficiency. Our current city hall is spread out all over the downtown area. It spans 10 different buildings which makes it hard to have centralized public service. The current city hall was last built in 1964 and was quickly filled to capacity. The new concept design will be built for future expansion.

3) The concept design for the new city hall is a true model of sustainability. It features green roofs, solar panels, and re-using of gray water, capturing of rainwater, and natural ventilation. Also a new building will boast more savings in heating due to newer and more efficient technologies compared to those installed back in the 60's. This building is elegant and will serve as a true model for sustainability while glowing as the emerald city Eugene was meant to be.

The only problem I see with this beautiful city hall coming to fruition is the cost. They did mention that this puppy would cost around $163.5 million. Throw in the police patrol facility for an additional $22 million and we have a grand total of $185.5 million to ask the voters of Eugene to cough up in the form of a state bond measure.

As much as I really want this city hall, I just don't think the voters will go for it. I would most certainly vote for it myself, but most Eugene citizens have already voted down costly expenses for the downtown renewable projects and for a measly gas tax to repair our roads. This city has some major hurdles to overcome before a project of this nature would gain the acceptance of the public, in humble opinion. Either way, it's nice to bask in the green features this building could one day possess.

For updated information on the new city hall plans, goto: EugeneCityHall.com