Opinion: Page 370

Letters to the Editor: 9-25-2014

Letters

A ONE-TIME GIFT Regarding City Hall, it’s important to understand that steel and concrete are inevitably desirable building materials because they are so structural. Unfortunately, they are also very energy intensive to produce. Therefore, from a standpoint of green building (to say nothing of climate change), concrete and steel should only be used as a last resort and only in the context of extreme building longevity during which the embodied energy costs can “amortize out” over time.  Continue reading →

Slant 9-25-2014

Slant

• A decision on Eugene City Hall is expected by the City Council after we go to press this week, and it could go either way (see our story last week). City staff and Rowell Brokaw Architects have the advantage of the final word. Rowell Brokaw has a vested interest in making the old City Hall look bad and making the proposed new City Hall look wonderful. But design and environmental issues aside, the elephant in the room is Phase II of a new City Hall. Continue reading →

Decision Time for Scotland

Viewpoint
Syrus Jin

The speculation of Scotland as a sovereign state has brought up questions about the future: its economy, military, and standing amongst international organizations, to only name a few. In a sentence, the argument of the pro-independence side can be succinctly summarized to: Scotland is better off on its own. Continue reading →

Letters to the Editor: 9-18-2014

Letters

NEW LIFE FOR CITY HALL To the mayor and councilors: Most of us who have lived and worked in Eugene since the 1960s remember the “urban renewal” that took the lives of historic structures that should have been updated — no longer “viable,” they said. Let’s build what so-and-so city has built, they lauded. Buildings have come and gone in Eugene — the city is not know for its sympathy to commercial and civic structures (e.g., its history).  Continue reading →

Slant 9-18-2014

Slant

• A group of local architects is deeply concerned about what is planned for Eugene City Hall, and we outline their perspectives this week on page 9. Further discussion on tearing down City Hall has been delayed until the City Council’s Sept. 22nd and 24th meetings and will hopefully be delayed again for re-evaluation. The council and administration have been debating what to do with City Hall for about 15 years, but we have a different city council now, and it will be different again 15 years from now. This is a time for leadership. Continue reading →

A Better Future

Viewpoint

Eugene is a beautiful, sleepy town, a place where, to quote Garrison Keillor on his recent Prairie Home Companion rebroadcast, “People are more concerned with living well than getting ahead.” The city is many things: eco-activists fed on local organics flourishing alongside a swoosh-tattooed sports empire of sparkle and grandeur, a town whose seeming ’60s Bohemianism is often driven by trustafarii dollars from L.A. and the Bay Area.  Continue reading →

Letters to the Editor: 9-11-2014

Letters

MISTAKEN IMPRESSION To the Eugene mayor and council: I’m very much in favor of Eugene building a new City Hall, but I don’t believe you have to waste the present building’s combined economic and historical worth in the process to do it. I also don’t think Eugeneans presently understand or would approve of the total cost commitment of your two-phase, headquarters-hindquarters concept if they did.  Continue reading →

Slant 9-11-2014

Slant

• ArtsHound on Broadway (and Willamette), our box art contest and project, was a smashing success for September’s First Friday ArtWalk. Thank you to the artists, artwalkers, participating businesses and Lane Arts Council for collaborating with EW. FFAW coordinator Jessica Watson, who’s been on more than 60 ArtWalks, says it was one of the best-attended walks she’s seen.  Continue reading →

Stop the Demolition

Viewpoint

Remodel our neglected City Hall for less than $15 million and you get:  • The entire 75,000 square foot structure refurbished, spruced up and brought up to modern earthquake and insulation standards.  • The iconic round City Council Chambers and art work saved.  • Some 35,000 square feet of office space ready for move-in, with another approximately 40,000 square feet of shell space available for future development as city offices. Continue reading →

Letters to the Editor: 9-4-2014

Letters

A NEW CIVIC CENTER As the city has scattered its departments, plans for what is called City Hall have dwindled to an executive suite and council chamber. Such a City Hall might be pretty but it’s hard to think of it as significant, and it occurs to me that the city’s space needs could be satisfied in any typical commercial building. Continue reading →