Author: Alex V. Cipolle

City of Eugene knew about Kesey Square deed

News

[EW will be updating this post as new information becomes available. Last update at 5:40 pm Monday, Feb. 29.] Did the city of Eugene truly forget or were city officials just hoping the public wouldn't remember? The city of Eugene was aware of the 1971 deed restriction on Kesey Square well before City Manager Jon Ruiz brought to the City Council a private offer to purchase the public parcel, which is "forever dedicated to the use of the public," in October 2015. Continue reading →

Citizens Want Public Square, Council Wants ‘Win-Win’

News

The night of Monday, Feb. 22, was a moment many have been waiting for since October, when the city considered the private purchase of Kesey Square in a closed executive session: For the first time, the Eugene City Council publicly discussed Kesey Square, aka Broadway Plaza. The work session, and public forum that followed, illustrated a lingering divide between some of the city councilors and mayor and the requests from citizens to keep the square public.  Continue reading →

Arts Hound

Visual Arts

Local jazz songbird Halie Loren joins Torrey Newhart on piano, Mark Schneider on bass and Brian West on drum for “I’ll Be Seeing You: Reflecting the women of jazz,” an event featuring songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Joni Mitchell 7:30 to 10 pm Thursday, Feb. 25, at The Jazz Station downtown. Continue reading →

Kesey Square: Forever Dedicated To The Public?

News

Kesey Square was originally intended to be a dedicated public space when a building was removed from the site in 1970. According to a Feb. 13 article in the Register-Guard, the deed to the square has surfaced and it says the area, also known as Broadway Plaza, is supposed to stay public permanently.  The R-G reported that it found a copy of the 1971 deed, committing the city-owned land parcel at Broadway and Willamette to be “forever dedicated to the use of the public.” Continue reading →

Arts Hound

Visual Arts

More than a year has passed since Eugene’s beloved storyteller Mark Lewis passed away. The Emmy-winning local performer, author, teacher and voice actor was nationally known for his show Word Pictures and voicing part of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.  His spirit and influence lives on in the people he mentored, such as Angela Dunham and Lindsey Shields of Flex Studios, a local dance school. Continue reading →

Back Beat

Music

Mark your calendars: Legendary hardcore punk band DRI returns to Eugene April 21 at The Boreal; tickets on sale now (theboreal.com). Also, Seattle indie-rockers Chastity Belt’s Feb. 28 show looks like it will sell out. Get on those tickets if you haven’t already. You don’t want to sleep on that show, Eugene. This week, FREE is a beautiful number, and that’s exactly how much it costs to see Seattle indie-folk rockers The Cave Singers 9 pm Thursday, Feb. 25, in Hi-Fi Music Hall’s “Lo-Fi Lounge.”  Continue reading →

Chamber President Rejects Public Outcry To Save Kesey Square

News

Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce President Dave Hauser recently weighed in on the future of Kesey Square in his weekly email Feb. 5, “The Chamber Rundown,” to Chamber members. On Nov. 17, the Chamber voted to endorse the controversial 2E Broadway proposal — the proposal to buy Kesey Square and put an apartment building on it — when most citizens were still wrapping their heads around the fact that Kesey Square was even up for sale. Continue reading →