Downtown Together!

Suggestions and Visions

compiled by
Citizens for Public Accountability

During April of 2008 Citizens for Public Accountability, in association with the City of Eugene, Davis', the Eugene Weekly, Friends of Eugene, HELIOS, the Horsehead, Jameson's, the KIVA, and Sundance Natural Foods, sponsored a series of four events designed to produce ideas for development downtown. This report is the product of Citizens for Public Accountability (CPA). We have taken written and oral descriptions from participants, and edited that material.

The Events: The first event provided an opportunity for people to present ideas and speak about issues downtown that were important to them. It also provided an opportunity to network with others who shared similar interests and goals for downtown. Those with an initiative or a business proposal took this opportunity to join with others in working groups to advance their ideas. The second event featured presentations in urban planning, design, real estate, and economics, describing ideas for, and experience with, downtown Eugene. Following these presentations, project groups from the previous event presented their initiatives. The third event was a Project Faire, where projects were displayed and discussed. The final event was meant to evaluate and present the projects that would eventually be included in this report. In total, across all of the four events, over 300 people participated.

The Projects: In this report we are highlighting 6 projects that were discussed and developed at these events. We include summaries of each of these more advanced projects. Each summary describes the project, the organization/ individuals working on the project, the needs met by the project, and the opportunities seized by the project.

What the City Can Do: We ask that the City (that is, the City Council and City staff) take these projects seriously, and have conversations with the key individuals involved. We would like the City Council to review these projects and direct staff to communicate with the organizations proposing these projects, to see if there is any way to help these projects come to fruition. These projects represent worthy efforts and ideas of citizens, and they warrant diligent City attention, to determine their feasibility, and to see if the City can help make them a reality.

We recommend the city assist these projects in the following ways:

• provide facilitation & technical assistance
• collaborate on efforts to obtain federal, state, and foundation funding, and financing.
• provide seed money
• provide matching grants
• provide letters of support
• provide assistance with property acquisition
• provide active development facilitation
• add these projects to the City workplan, for the council's downtown revitalization goals.

W.O.W. Hall Restoration and Additions

Organization: The historic Woodmen of the World Hall (W.O.W. Hall) has been a beloved Eugene landmark since its construction in 1932 at the corner of 8th Avenue and Lincoln Street. After serving for forty-three years as a center of community activity and the home of the Woodmen of the World, and the Women of Woodcraft, the building was purchased by the Community Center for the Performing Arts. Inc (CCPA)., a community based non- profit 501(c)(3) organization. The CCPA is dedicated to the preservation of the W.O.W. Hall and its use as a public community center with a focus on performing arts. In the thirty-three years since the purchase of the W.O.W. Hall, the CCPA has provided the community with a wide variety of educational, cultural and recreational activities including: classes in every type of performing art and related technical skills; a regular schedule of outstanding events, in every imaginable discipline and genre, by local and internationally acclaimed artists; rehearsal and developmental opportunities for performers and ensembles; and life changing training opportunities in performance production and management for volunteers and community members. The CCPA is dedicated to serving people of all ages, economic situations and physical abilities. The institution and the building have been particularly important to young people by providing them the rare opportunity to see and work directly with highly acclaimed professional performers while developing their own creative skills.

The Site: The Woodmen of the World Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a designated City of Eugene Landmark. It is one of only a few buildings in the City to retain most of its original material and detailing on the interior as well as on its exterior. Because of the building's very high integrity of historic material the City of Eugene's Historic Review Board took the rare step of protecting the interior of the building as well as its exterior in its designation.

Developmental History: Since 1975 the CCPA has been incrementally improving the W.O. W. Hall. Earlier projects have focused on basic fire and life safety issues and basic building infrastructure. The City of Eugene as well as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission, the former Eugene Arts Foundation and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department's Historic Preservation Office have assisted the CCPA in these endeavors over the years. This year the CCPA has embarked on three major improvement projects: 1. Installation of a complete Heating, Ventilation and Cooling system in the building's “main hall” auditorium; 2. Installation of acoustic materials in the main hall attic to attenuate performance sound which might otherwise disturb tenants of the new Westown residential development directly to the east of the W.O.W. Hall; and 3. a complete restoration of the exterior of the landmark building. The first two projects are funded by the developers of Westown, the Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corporation with the City of Eugene and the third is funded in part by a grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Heritage Program's State Historic Preservation Office. Design for all three projects is being supervised by architect, Robert Dortignacq, AIA.

The Project: Several challenges have limited the ability of the CCPA to develop the Community Center
for the Performing Arts program to its fullest potential. These are: 1. lack of resources to completely restore and outfit the entire building for full functionality and marketability; 2. lack of space for backstage functions and equipment storage; and 3. lack of secondary spaces for educational, rehearsal, and smaller scale developmental functions. If these three challenges could be met the CCPA could provide the community with an example of an excellently preserved and stewarded landmark which would be more attractive to a larger portion of the community and enable a dramatic expansion of both the number and types of activity that could be accommodated at the W.O.W. Hall. The project would consist of the following phases:

1. Completion of the restoration and equipping of the W.O.W. Hall, on the interior as well as the exterior. This work would improve marketability of the facility and serve to more firmly connect residents of Eugene to their community heritage.
2. Restoration of the historic streetscape surrounding the W.O.W. Hall, including installation of replicas of the original Eugene city streetlamps which once lit the building from the Eighth Avenue and Lincoln Street elevations. This project would include restoration of the sidewalk and green strip adjacent to the Hall, the installation of new bike racks, the provision of historically appropriate planters and street furniture near the entry and preventative maintenance of the remaining large big-leaf maple street trees on the Lincoln Street side of the property. This work would provide the visual spatial framework necessary for the public to fully understand the design of the historic building, much needed night time security lighting in currently dark areas of the streetscape, greatly increased and enhanced opportunities to travel to the facility by bicycle, and long-term preservation of some of Eugene's oldest and largest heritage trees.
3. Construction of an L-shaped backstage addition on the north and east elevations of the building. The backstage addition would include a green room and dressing room facilities for performers, a shop for performance related technical work, a loading dock arrangement designed to bring much of the loading activity indoors, storage for performance and educational equipment, and circulation for performers and production staff around the performance area from the rear to the front of the performance/classroom area.
4. Construction of a multi-story educational wing over the parking lot to the north of the W.O.W. Hall featuring dance studios, classrooms, meeting areas and small sound stages for video and record production. This addition would enable a dramatic expansion of the CCPA's educational program and provide performers and students the opportunity to create marketable products for the distribution of their work.

Public benefit: The projects outlined here could turn a historic building which has long played a critical role in the City's cultural life into a major educational and cultural destination on the west coast. Such a development would provide significant opportunities for employment and economic development in Eugene's burgeoning arts industry while insuring the ongoing preservation of one of its most unique and significant historic landmarks.

Contact: Jon Pincus WOW Hall Expansion wowhallbldg@gmail.com

Network Charter School Development Plans

Project Description: The Network Charter School is launching a capital campaign to develop a new downtown campus. This campus will house program and office space for several nonprofits; some are already NCS member organizations and others have compatible missions and want to join us. The former include a culinary school and an arts education group. The latter include, for example, a jazz society, a youth mentoring group, a peace action group, and a civic group that promotes youth engagement in electoral politics. NCS would be the managing partner in an extended ad hoc alliance of member organizations that would share the operating costs of the campus. We have been assured that NCS is eligible for new market tax credits. Our operating expenses are paid by the reliable flow of public funds in return for services, but this does not include facilities support.

The Organization: NCS is a 501(c)3 organization that offers a free, public education to students in grades 7-12, leading to a regular high school diploma. NCS was chartered in 2003 by Eugene School District 4j, and recently received its first 4-year renewal, based on successful performance of its contract. NCS is composed of six member organizations, each of which is an independent corporation having community education as part of its mission. Together, these partners provide a comprehensive secondary curriculum. Three of the partners �" MECCA, Le Petit Gourmet, and Peace Village �" are currently housed on the school's main campus in the city core near the library and bus station. Three others �" Eugene Glass School, Nearby Nature, and Creative Minds School �" have their offices and most of their classrooms at their own sites elsewhere. By law, at least 50% of NCS courses are taught by properly certified teachers; the others are taught by highly qualified personnel with appropriate training.

NCS operates on income generated by student enrollment; it receives an average of 92% of state per-pupil funding from 4j and the other districts in the region whose students choose NCS. Programmatic decisions are made by consensus at biweekly meetings of the directors of the member organizations. Overarching policy, supervision of the executive director, and financial management falls under the purview of the NCS board of directors. The executive director has responsibility for ensuring that the terms of the charter are carried out. Opportunities and Needs: NCS needs a facility that is safe, sound, and designed to support its educational programs. NCS has operated in facilities rented in downtown Eugene, paying below-market rates because its quarters are in a building slated for urban redevelopment. The building is in poor repair and badly arranged for school purposes. We seek to establish a new home with ample classroom and meeting space and offices for the school as well as for several nonprofit organizations that are already partners or who wish to become partners in this enterprise. NCS needs $3-10 million to create a campus that allows a group of nonprofits to help at-risk youth earn a standard high school diploma while learning how to contribute to their community, and preparing to enter adult life as students, workers, and good citizens. This campus will be located in downtown Eugene and designed as part of long-desired improvement in the city core.

Demographics Served: Virtually all of the students who choose NCS are at high risk of school failure. The majority might be characterized as eccentrics �" free spirits, critical thinkers, home-schoolers who outgrew the nest, and seekers whose experiences have ill-prepared them to succeed in conventional schools, even very good ones. About 60% of our students are eligible for the federal meals program and about 25% have special education needs and receive mandated services. Most students enter with lower achievement levels and fewer credits than expected for their ages and grades, although almost all have average or better intelligence. Many come with histories of maladaptive behavior, but relatively few have been involved in the juvenile justice system. Enrollment has grown slowly and steadily since the school opened, and this year is about 130; the target is to enroll no more than 200 students. At that size, we could offer a slightly broader range of courses and improve salaries and benefits while preserving the small scale of daily school life that our students need to prosper. Our marketing efforts aim only to attract the students who will be most successful in a hands-on,
community embedded program like ours and who are not making it in public schools. Because we are often uniquely successful with these students, the relations between NCS and the sending districts are usually cordial.

Contact: Mary Leighton, PhD, Executive Director 541-510-3819 (cell) mary@networkcharterschool.org

DIVA: A Complete Downtown Arts Center

Project Description: This project is based upon many examples of municipalities the size of Eugene that have used a combination of public and private funds to provide urban art centers. The "Palo Alto" model has been discussed in this context, because it provides a recent example. In addition, Dr. Roger Kemp's book "Cities and the Arts: A Handbook for Renewal" can be referenced for a list of cities that have made the visual arts their principal driver for inner-city renewal. The project would create space for multiple galleries (along the lines currently provided by DIVA) and office spaces for a director, curator, and volunteer staff. It would provide facilities for a permanent collection and secure storage. It would run a media arts theatre (seating and projection room) and perhaps a small performing arts stage. The center would include a reception area, gift shop and optionally an art library for researchers and classrooms dedicated to art instruction. The space might also include the Lane County Historical Museum. It could additionally provide downtown residence and studio space, for members of the art community. Organization: The DIVA experiment has proved to be highly successful. (See the web site: http:// divanow.org/Default.asp). DIVA was never meant to be permanent, but rather a transitional center until it could be replaced by a larger, more permanent facility. The DIVA Board represents a cross-section of the visual arts (artists, art administrators, University of Oregon faculty and administrators, architects). Maude Kerns maintains a downtown gallery within the DIVA facility.

Opportunities and Needs: A regional permanent collection should be accessible at a downtown location with adequate security and storage. Moreover, as in Palo Alto, an urban art center should also provide classes and public talks as well as serving the media arts community. This proposal calls for a broad-based approach to designing and developing the Art Center. A series of "Art summits" should shape the process and the end product. The intent is not to compete with any existing visual arts venues but to complement and expand the existing visual arts infrastructure. "The greatest city for the arts and the outdoors" should have such a center as its visual arts core, and it should become the incubator for many spin-off projects that will serve to further and deepen the overall effort of renaissance and renewal.

Contact:
DIVA
http://divanow.org
diva.director@gmail.com

The Tango Center

Weekday Market by day
Dancing by night

Project Description: The Tango Center organizers want to purchase, restore and manage the Eugene Producer's Public Market building, which the non-profit dance center has occupied since 2003. Evenings would continue to be centered around the all-ages Social Dance: dances, classes, practices, performances, musical education, music and film production, food, shoes, clothes and art. Through an initiative that has already begun, the daytime hours will be occupied by The Weekday Market: a diverse, vibrant, locally-driven public market, including service providers, skilled craftspeople, local farmers and secondary food products. Weekday Market vendors would also teach their specialties at workshops. Other organizations would have offices, including: a local sustainable micro-enterprise incubation support center; a community computing center; and a historic building restoration school, whose first project would be the restoration of the original 1929 façade (see photo).

The Organization: The Tango Center was a key component in the recent "night-time renaissance" experienced by West Broadway. 10,000 Eugeneans have participated in activities inside the Tango Center, over the last 5 years. The location will also be pivotal to the revival of daytime activity downtown.

Opportunities and Needs: The intention is to create a flexible local vendor system, which incubates local micro-enterprises, and which can expand to fill any number of empty indoor spaces downtown. The Tango Center organizers believe that by incubating local micro-enterprises, Eugene citizens can create both locally- driven economic development, and locally-driven downtown development. This is what they have done with dance, and what organizations such as Saturday Market and 5th Street Market have done in the broader local economy. The Weekday Market will provide a meeting place, programmed activity, market space, and workshop space, all geared towards facilitating locally-driven economic activity. It is hoped the City will do what it can to facilitate the Tango Center's purchase, enhancement and stewardship of this community facility.

Contact: Greg Bryant The Tango Center http://www.tangocenter.org tango_center@yahoo.com

A Year-round Farmers' Market

Project Description: Although there has been talk of a year-round farmers' market located at the Lane County Fairgrounds, during the Downtown Together process the idea of locating such a market in the more central downtown area was discussed. Historically the building that houses The Tango Center, housed a downtown daytime farmers' market. Developing a year-round farmers' market at this or a similar downtown location is an attractive idea. With the increasing cost of petroleum, with the rising cost of food, the gradual transformation of Willamette Valley agriculture from grass seed production (60% of what is now grown in the valley) to food crops (currently less than 20%) is in our future. Regional food security makes sense not only to ensure we have something to eat, but also as a smart way to retool the economy of the south Willamette Valley. A regional farmers' market, with accessory food processing and storage, is one of the most prudent strategic moves Eugene could make, in these changing times.

Opportunities and Needs: Could a regional farmers' market really gross enough money to make such an idea financially feasible? Forty-eight million dollars is spent on food in Lane County each month. More than ninety- five percent of those food dollars are spent on products that come from outside the Willamette Valley �" almost all of it bought at franchise supermarkets like Albertsons, Fred Meyers, or Safeway. Existing farmers' markets and roadside farm vendors provide barely two percent of what we eat here in Lane County. A downtown, year- round farmers' market could more than double that, taking in as much as four percent of our food dollars, at a gross intake of nearly $2 million per month (but even half of that is a hefty sum). This is money that would otherwise be funneled out of Oregon to large international food conglomerates. The money to sustain such a market is already here: we're just putting that money into the wrong pockets. The time is ripe to move forward with this project.

Demographics served: This project is a win-win for those who would purchase wholesome locally grown food and local products from a year-round farmers' market. These products include fresh produce, fresh fish, local meat products, fresh eggs, dairy products, bakery products, wine, and local art and crafts. The market would serve local producers by providing a locale at which to sell products directly to consumers. It is in line with Eugene's emphasis on sustainability.

Contact: Willamette Farm and Food Coalition 1192 Lawrence St Eugene, OR 97401 541-341-1216 info@lanefood.org

The Link:
Between The Library and Downtown

Project description: We call this project The Link because it links the library and the downtown. The Link provides a public open space �" a Plaza - between the library and downtown with connecting walks toward Broadway, 8th Avenue, the park blocks, the government buildings and, in the future, to the Willamette River, Eugene's most precious asset. The focal point of the Plaza is a fountain with cobblestone paving around it. East of it is a lawn that berms up along Olive and part of 10th street, on top of the berm are bushes as a partial screen from traffic. Along the north side are a variety of stores in existing buildings, brightly lit windows and various kinds of activities at night. Four trees provide shade and seating around their bases. On the west side are more businesses on the ground floors of one and two-story high buildings. The roofs of these buildings have gardens for rent to tenants of the high rise building next to them. The apartments in this high rise have windows and balconies overlooking the Link. Opportunities and Needs: It is worth noting that the idea for a park/plaza played a significant role in the recent testimony of many citizens about downtown development in the West Broadway area. It can be made a condition on the development of that area. Citizens are likely to support tax breaks and subsidies for such public projects with clear public benefits. Demographic Served: The project provides more housing downtown and “eyes on the plaza.” Downtown housing is vital to the revitalization of downtown and to the people who want to live there. The project will serve those who use our landmark library and visit downtown for shopping and pleasure. It is designed to connect the library to the core of downtown. From here you can walk in any direction towards downtown. It provides a place where people can meet friends, relax on the grass, have lunch, sit under a shade tree or do shopping while waiting for the next bus to go home. On hot summer days the fountain will provides cooling water sprays and much fun for kids! The high rise can provide an estimated minimum of 70 housing units. The Link will benefit our town, its people, visitors and the economy. Contact: Lora Byxbe lorabee@efn.org

The Downtown Wanted by Eugeneans

During the fourth meeting, we compiled lists of what people want downtown, what common patterns a good project contains, what qualities a downtown should have, and what should flourish in a downtown.

Things people want to see downtown:

Common patterns among good projects: Each project emerges from existing organizations that have done much, with few resources. Each project is an incubator Each project has an educational component Each project is a marketplace Each project is based on local creation to serve local needs A project's members share as many resources as possible, including maintenance, promotion, development, etc. Each project integrates nature, housing, work, services, galleries and sales in the same space No project is an island: they should all work together, or cluster, in ways that are convenient to the community and the project members The Qualities we want downtown: Friendly Communal Prosperous Empowering Participatory Entertaining Age-friendly, age-inviting Diverse, Varied Fresh, Innovative Beautiful Full of life Full of feeling Full of ambience Full of character Walkable Hip & comfortable Busy & quiet "Parisian" & "Venetian" etc. Humane Safe Sweet, charming, beautiful, civilized Accessible Public Open Spacious Loose Inviting Available Nicely lit

Downtown should be a place where the following things can flourish: Love, freedom Prosperity Water Nature Community identity Education Tolerance Equality Sex Food Work Art Appropriate transport Dance Music Improvisation Good conversation Cooperative action Purpose Meaning Accomplishment Religion Spirituality Tradition Innovation History Relaxation Community Commons Centers Clean air Good health Healthcare Focus - coherence Ecological responsibility Climate change awareness Carbon neutrality Sustainability For more information, please contact members of the CPA Downtown Committee: Bob O'Brien (bobrien@uoregon.edu) Greg Bryant (greg@workspot.com) Lora Byxbe (lorabee@efn.org) Jon Pincus (jpincus@efn.org)