04/25/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Com 4/13/77 v. .'rove e e Proposed Concept for Construction of Eugene Sports Program Facility on Park Land (Letters distributed to Council) Manager noted this item was a recommendation to ask Council approval for the concept of building a public facility on public park land, with the facility later to be deeded to the City. Ed Smith, Parks and Recreation Department, said that research had been going on for quite some time regarding providing a facility for the Eugene Sports Program as the ESP had been moved from one facility to another over the last few years. He said a practical location had been determined, adjacentto GriJlwm Field in Westmoreland Park, and reviewed the location on a map with Council members. He noted the new concept and new idea of using public ground for this type of operation had never been discussed before. The ESP is a private, non-profit corporation with a $250,000 budget, and he felt it had provided a great service for the community. He noted if the program were provided by the Parks and Recreation Department, it would cost considerably more, and that the City had jointly partici- pated in the program for the past 15 years. Mr. Smith said the request before the Council now was for approval of the concept of using public land for a public facility. He said that details of the negotiations have yet to be worked out such as making sure what type of building was built, its appearance, making sure that durable material was used. He again reiterated that the building would then be deeded back to the City and leased to the ESP on a long-term basis. Mr. Ralph Myers, ESP, reported that the program had been in operation since 1954, with great expansion occurring over that time. He said there was a great need for a facility for the progrmn, as it had been dependent on the use of public facilities (i.e. schools), and that it had never owned real estate and did not want to do so at this time. He said the ESP wanted to build a facility and deed it back to the City with a long-tenn type of lease. Mr. Haws expressed his concern that equal attention would be given to both girls and boys in the program and that the budget would allocate equal portions for both. Mr. Myers responded that the ESP had probably been one of the forerunners in providing progrmns for both boys and girls, that they did not discriminate in any area, but considered all the participants simply as youngsters. Mr. Haws then requested a copy of the budget to which Mr. Myers replied it would be provided. Support for the general program that the ESP had been prov id ing for the community was expressed by most Council members. However, some concerns were expressed as to the involvement of the City in this new concept. One major concern expressed by Mr. Haws was in regard to other groups coming before the City Counc il to ask for the same type of facility to be provided for them. He ;]150 expressed a concern in what would happen to the building ..3 i./- 0 4/25/77 - 23