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MINUTES Eugene City Council Work Session McNutt Room-City Hall February 25, 2004 Noon COUNCILORS PRESENT: Gary Papd, Nancy Nathanson, Scott Meisner, David Kelly, Betty Taylor Bonny Bettman, George Poling, Jennifer Solomon. His Honor Mayor James D. Torrey called the meeting to order. A. WORK SESSION: Downtown Eugene Police Building and Civic Center Visioning City Manager Dennis Taylor said this was an opportunity to provide information on work done to determine the feasibility of a Eugene Police Building and Civic Center and also to report on the citizens' visioning charette that had been held. He asked Glen Svendsen, Division Manager of Central Services Facilities, to speak about it. Mayor Torrey noted that two members of the design committee were present. Mr. Svendsen introduced Eric Gunderson, who also helped in the visioning process. He explained that, as a result of City Council direction to staff, staff had worked with Mr. Gunderson and the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects to conduct a design charette in late January. He noted that the Mayor had appointed an ad hoc Civic Facilities Visioning Committee with representatives from a number of agencies and public interests. He said the first meeting of that committee had been held. Mr. Gunderson called the charette a %rief, but intense exploration of ideas" for a Eugene Civic Center. He shared the definition of a Civic Center that came out of the work of the charette, as follows: ~The term Civic Center is used to describe a place where City employees go to work, where citi zens come to conduct the business of government, obtain services, seek justice, and participate in democracy. It is a place of art, free speech, public debate, and an expression of the spirit of Eugene. It's a place for events of public ceremony, enjoyment, and a fundamental part of what makes us a community. It is its nature to be at the heart of things, with connections to commercial, governmen- tal, social, spiritual, and cultural elements to our City. It's a desirable place to go which is safe and accessible to everyone." Mr. Gunderson said the charette then worked with the downtown space planning advisory team to identify rough quantities of space for the different elements of the project. He provided an overview of the charette process, noting that it had been attended by 75 people, who had been divided into ten teams. A description of the design charette and summary of findings was presented by Mr. Gunderson MINUTES--Eugene City Council February 25, 2004 Page 1 Work Session