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Mr. Farmer said that it was important to get people used to coming downtown. While people do <br />come downtown, they do not come early or stay late, or generally do multiple functions. He <br />discussed the Choirs of Pittsburgh, an event sponsored by the City of Pittsburgh that highlighted <br />each night, for a two-month period, a different choir from the region singing downtown. It <br />attracted parents and grandparents downtown. He indicated interest in pursuing the concept with <br />DEl. <br /> <br />Regarding the subject of parking, Mr. Farmer said that all parking had a cost, whether it was paid <br />by the patron of a business, the business itself, or government. He said that staff would keep <br />working to resolve the tension between making parking too accessible and making it unaccessible <br />by not having enough or making it too expensive. He emphasized the need for parking turnover, <br />and said that free parking tended to be dominated by employees. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey acknowledged the City did not own the McDonald Theater building, but thought the <br />City could use the tools it already had in place to facilitate the conversion of the McDonald Theater <br />to a more desired use. He hoped that staff pursued the opening of Broadway, noting he did not <br />previously support the reopening but now did support it because of the public perception that the <br />area was unsafe. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner agreed with Mr. Farmer that parking was not free, but outside the downtown parking <br />was provided by the developer and the City had no role in that. In the downtown, developers had <br />no responsibility for parking, which was provided by the City. There was one private parking <br />garage downtown. He did not think that was good. He said that developers outside the <br />downtown recover the costs of the parking over time; in downtown, the City and to some degree, <br />merchants absorbed the cost of parking. He called for a broader discussion of the implications of <br />the City's parking policies inside and outside downtown. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner emphasized the need for something more than events to bring residents downtown. <br />He said that there must be housing, and commercial and retail opportunities. Many people come <br />downtown to the Eugene Celebration, but for no other reason. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap8 said the City Council should keep in mind new development opportunities for City Hall as <br />it considered the vision. He suggested the City Council form a committee to look at what would <br />be done with spaces in City Hall. He indicated agreement with Mayor Torrey about the opening of <br />Broadway. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor asked for more information about the Bureau of Land Management redevelopment in <br />Salem. He said that if the City were to develop the similarly sized Sears building in Eugene with <br />offices, it would have something to show both staff and those responding to a Request for <br />Proposals. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor, also a committee member, indicated concurrence with Mr. Meisner's remarks about <br />parking. He was very interested in a better definition of the City's mission in downtown. <br />Mr. Kelly thought the comments from the participants in the open houses and focus groups were <br />very good and wanted to ensure they would be integrated into the recommendations that came <br />back to the council. He noted a comment that "downtown housing needs open space." He <br />thought there might be a need for some spaces comparable in size to Broadway Plaza in other <br />places in downtown if housing developed as he hoped. <br /> <br /> MINUTE--Eugene City Council February 28, 2001 Page 4 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />