Item A - Civic Center Visioning - Laserfiche WebLink

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During an October, 2003~ work session focused on the need for a new Police services building, several Councilors expressed the desire to have more infor- mation on how a new Police building would fit with future plans to replace Ci~' Hall, and to develop a more general %ivic center" concept. Council directed staff to provide some conceptual informa- tion on how Ci~: and other agency offices would form a downtown civic center and how a new Police building would fit into a civic center concept. To facilitate the rapid development of multiple civic center schemes, the Facility Management Division sponsored a well-attended Civic Center Design Charette on Janua~' 23 and 24, 2004 that was hosted Most teams in the Charette assumed that a new by the Southwest Oregon Chapter of the American Police building would be a separate structure. Insfitute of Architects and coordinated by WBGS The two most popular sites were the Cit'y-owned Architecture and Planning, PC. Ten teams were parking lot south of City Hall on 8*h Avenue, and formed--each assigned one of thrce areas within the current site of the "Good Times" tavern and downtown--to develop a Civic Center concept Federal Building parking lot. At the time of the specific to that area. Each teanl was free to develop Charettc, the need for the Police building to have principles, specific sites, and concepts, high public vis/b/lity at the street level was not considered to be a priority. One outcome of the Charette was general agree- ment that the location of the Civic Center coupled The Charette also produced a consensus that with improvements to existing public buildings has implementation of the Civic Center concept would great potential for creating a welcoming heart for be incremental over a number of years. Phased Eugene. The consensus of the teams was to locate construction xvas seen as necessaly to maintain the Civic Center in the central Downtown area, in City services during the construction of new facili- and around the existing City Hall alld Park Blocks. ties, especially if Ci~ Hall itself is to be recon- The degree to which government buildings were structcd. Use of the City Hall site also requires concentrated varied. Some concepts showed fight that the Police building be built in the first phase, groupings of City Hall, Police, Coun~~ mad State as there are no viable options for ma "interim" building. Others purposely sought diversit'y with location meeting essential sen4ces seismic stan- mixed use buildings intermingled with govern- dards to house Police functions temporarily while mental uses. These concepts included mixed uses within the Civic Center buildings, ranging from City Hall is reconstructed or replaced. cafes and small retail to multi-sto~~ housing mad all art museum. Civic Visioning Committee - Report and Recommendations June 2004 Page q3