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<br />April 10, 2019, Work Session – Item 2 <br />EUGENE AGENCY BOARD <br />AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Work Session and Action: Riverfront Park and Plaza Funding Requests and Potential Future Riverfront Urban Renewal Investments Meeting Date: April 10, 2019 Agenda Item Number: 2 Department: Planning and Development Staff Contact: Michael Kinnison Public Works Emily Proudfoot <br />www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-5500; 541-682-4915 <br />ISSUE STATEMENT This work session will have two parts. First, staff will ask the Agency Board to take action on two items related to the Downtown Riverfront: funding for the three-acre linear park and for the one-acre urban plaza. Second, staff will seek Agency Board input on other potential future investment opportunities within the Riverfront Urban Renewal District and a process for prioritizing projects. <br />BACKGROUND <br />Part 1: At the March 11, 2019 work session, staff presented detailed information on the Downtown Riverfront Park design process and how it fulfills the community’s vision, as brought forth during the community engagement process. For numerous reasons, the Park and Plaza are complex projects: <br />• Historical/industrial aspects of the site; <br />• Geotechnical and environmental restrictions (working within a brownfield site); <br />• Preconstruction work required primarily related to utilities relocation, lessening the riverbank’s steep slope, and riparian enhancement; and <br />• Creation of a layered landscape of urban and natural spaces that responds to extensive community input. <br />Downtown Riverfront Park (three acres) An inviting and accessible public park along the Willamette River has long been envisioned as a critical component to creating a new riverfront neighborhood district in downtown Eugene. A key element of the Eugene Water & Electric Board Riverfront Master Plan, the park will serve as an anchor amenity for the Downtown Riverfront redevelopment and an important riverfront connection and recreation asset for the community as a whole. After adoption of the Master Plan, EWEB committed to donate three acres of property to the City of Eugene for a park along the riverfront in exchange for a dedication of funds for park development in the future. To that end, in January of 2018, the City hired a consultant team led by Walker Macy Landscape Architects to re-engage the public in a Downtown Riverfront Park design process to reaffirm the design values and refine the park design further. Over the course of several focus group meetings,