Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/11/1988 Meeting e .e -~ M I NUT E S EUGENE CITY COUNCIL MCNUTT ROOM--CITY HALL January 11, 1988 5:30 p.m. PRESENT: Debra Ehrman, Freeman Holmer, Ruth Bascom, Robert Bennett, Jeff Miller, Emily Schue, Cynthia Wooten. ABSENT: Roger Rutan. The work session of the City Council of the City of Eugene was called to order by His Honor Mayor Brian B. Obie. I. LINCOLN SCHOOL UPDATE Jan Bohman, Development Department, gave a progress report. Two proposals have emerged as possible uses for the Lincoln School site. The first group is the Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Servicesl (PARCS) Special Recreation Program. She said the program is looking for a new site and construction of the new building will be funded with community block grant dollars. The other group is Eugene Emergency Housing (EEH), which is looking for a location to build a specialized apartment complex for head-injured victims. The proposed complex would have 20 units and be funded in part by a $500,000 allocation from Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She said EEH would like the council to take some action on the Lincoln School because it needs site information before it can proceed with acquiring the funds. Ms. Bohman said the Westside Neighborhood Project would like to see projects that support the character of the neighborhood. She said the projects were presented to the Westside neighborhood at two public meetings and did not meet with any opposition. She said the council can consider housing one or both of the uses on the site. Other suggested uses for the site are a swimming pool and child care facility. Ms. Bohman said these alternatives have not been pursued because of a lack of funding. She said a January 19 public meeting has been scheduled to hear public comment on the two proposals. Ms. Bohman said an environmental/historic review process is being conducted on the building which is over 50 years old. The Historical Review Board discussed the hist0rical merit of the building at its MINUTES--City Council Work Session January 11, 1988 Page 1 e January 7 meeting. However, board members could not agree on whether to support or oppose removal of the building and decided to forward their minutes to the State without a formal recommendation. In an effort to gather additional information, Ms. Bohman said staff contracted with Dennis McGee, an engineer who was involved with the AxBilly and Schaeffer rehabilitations. She said Mr. McGee was asked to estimate the cost of renovating the school to house both proposals. His results were $43 per square foot for construction costs alone. Other expenses increased that amount to $52 per square foot for a total of $2,495,500 for the entire project. To convert the school into regular housing units, Mr. McGee found that each approximately 850-square-foot unit would cost approximately $130,000. Ms. Bohman said the study was used as a hypothetical situation in order to have a specific use and a specific cost. She said representatives from both projects believe the building would not meet their needs. Ms. Wooten asked how much it would cost to renovate the building for a child care center or some other community use. City Manager Mike Gleason said the school district staff conducted such a study that analyzed whether part of the school could be turned into a community recreation area. He said school officials ran into problems closing off part of the bUilding because of the exiting codes. ~ Ms. Wooten said she has had inquiries from organizations interested in renovating the building for community uses compatible with the neighborhood. She said she would like some way of determining what the cost of such a project would be. Mr. Gleason said the City would have to commission a special study to explore that option. One problem when using only part of the building is the structural prohibitions with regard to fire exiting. He estimated that by the time exiting codes are met the renovation price would be similar to Mr. McGeels figures. Ms. Wooten asked what criteria PARCS is using to develop a new site for the specialized recreation program. Ed Smith, PARCS director, said the primary criteria is accessibility to the people who use the facility. He said the current location at Washington Park is not close enough to the majority of the users. The new site will also have to have paved surfaces, and be nearby playgrounds or a community center. He said the department is operating under the assumption that the Lincoln School would have to be razed to accomodate the specialized recreation program. e MINUTES--City Council Work Session January 11, 1988 Page 2 e Mr. Gleason said Lincoln School is one of four sites being considered for the program. He said the specialized recreation program and head injured housing facility are not inherently connected other than having compatible uses. Ms. Ehrman asked what the demolition costs are. Ms. Bohman said $50,000 has been allocated for demolition. Mr. Gleason added the funds are part of the block grant. Ms. Bascom asked who falls under the category of head injured. Jim McCoy, a representative of EEH, said head injured is a person who has suffered a serious head trauma often from an automobile accident. He said the number of head injured victims is rising because of advances in medical treatment. Victims often must undergo a long recovery process and there are plans to coordinate the housing complex with Sacred Heartls neurological recovery program. The housing facility will be much like a normal apartment complex except that some staff members will be present. Eugene does not currently have such a facility and there is a growing need for one in the area. Mr. McCoy said the number of units has been limited to 20 in accordance with HUD funding. Mr. Holmer asked if there are any operational cost increases anticipated with the PARC special education program. Mr. Smith said the only projected cost increase is for utilities. 4It Mr. Holmer asked Ms. Bohman if historic preservation is a public use. Ms. Bohman speculated that perhaps it is. However, she added the neighborhood feels strongly that the empty building is a liability and should be utilized. She said those goals were expressed at the November public meeting and are also cited in the neighborhood plan. Approximately 25 people attended the November public meeting, she added. Mr. Miller asked if the current school site is large enough to house both the head injured complex and the existing school. Ms. Bohman estimated the site is not big enough to accomodate both buildings and the existing recreational facilities. Mr. Gleason said the site would be large enough if the parking was eliminated. Ms. Wooten asked about a report that did not eliminate the possibility of siting a new public pool at Lincoln School. Mr. Smith said it is feasible to explore constructing a pool at the Lincoln School site. Ms. Wooten asked what would happen if Lincoln School is found to be of historic merit. Mr. Gleason speculated such a finding would only mean that the City cannot use federal dollars for demolition. Ms. Bascom asked if the building was reviewed as a site for a child care facility. Mr. Gleason reiterated his previous comments that a specific e MINUTES--City Council Work Session January 11, 1988 Page 3 . review was not conducted. He said he is confident that such an analysis would conclude it is cheaper to raze the building and build a new one. He said the fire exiting requirements for child day-care facilities are more stringent than those for other uses. Ms. Bohman added a church explored the possibility of using the building for its classroom and recreation location and eventually rejected it because of the cost of rehabilitation. In a response to a question from Ms. Ehrman, Ms. Bohman said the building has been closed because it is unsafe. Mr. Gleason asked the council for some direction regarding the future of the school in order to hold a commitment from HUD. Mr. Holmer reported he had a conversation with someone involved with the Mayflower Theater renovation. This person estimated the school could be remodeled for a variety of uses for $300,000. He said the council start- ed with the assumption that the use of the land should be public. He asked if it would be appropriate to make a survey of potential private uses before committing to one that involves substantial capital invest- ment. e Mayor Obie asked if the council would like staff to draft a proposal on uses for the existing building. Mr. Gleason said such a proposal would take approximately three months to complete. Ms. Bohman said Mr. McGeels study cost about $4,000. She said the present school site is slightly over four acres. Mr. Gleason estimated the 48,OOO-square-foot building uses about one quarter of the site. Mr. Bennett asked how much space is needed for the head injured apartment complex. Bill Uhlhorn, EEH, said the facility would need about 14,000 square feet and would take any location on the site. Mr. Bennett said he supports the head injured housing program. He said EEH does quality work and is recognized throughout the community for its credibility. He said he would not want the council to delay action and jeopardize the project's funding commitment. Ms. Bascom asked if there are other sites EEH is considering for the housing project such as Tugman Park. Mr. Gleason said there are other sites. However, pursuing those sites would cause EEH to lose its funding commitment. Mr. Uhlhorn said EEH has been told that Tugman Park is not an option because it is too small and because the neighborhood would oppose the facility. Ms. Schue said the City should ask the school district for any data it may have on the school. She said she would like to see the site used for both the housing complex and the special recreation program. She men- tioned the Campbell Center as an example of where the City has e MINUTES--City Council Work Session January 11, 1988 Page 4 ~ combined facilities before. Mr. Miller said he also thinks both projects should be located on the site. Mr. Holmer asked how much City money is involved in razing the school and proceeding with the special recreation program. Ms. Bohman said the Special Recreation Center has $350,000 in block grant money to build a new facility. Ms. Wooten said she has hoped throughout the discussions over Lincoln School that the building could be used for community purposes. She said she is in favor of Ms. Schue's request to see the school districtls studies on other possible uses for the school. However, she said she is inclined to support razing the building as long as the site is left in a public or quasi-public use with as much of the land as possible retained for recreational purposes. Ms. Bascom said she is in favor of the proposal to jointly locate the two facilities on the site. Ms. Ehrman asked who will make the ultimate decision. Mr. Gleason said the land use issue will be addressed by the Joint Parks Committee and the Community Development Committee. He said the council is still able to submit its input in those processes. 4It Mayor Obie said that since the projects involve City of Eugene land, the final decision should come from the council. He said a proposal should come before the council relative to the use of the Lincoln School site. He summarized that the council has reached a consensus to raze the school, utilize the two proposed uses, and request from staff a formal proposal about the projects. Mayor Obie said the site should be used for the best possible use. He said the council should also support the other two proposals by looking for the best possible locations and not house them together because it is convenient. To that end, the council should inventory the City and County lands. Ms. Ehrman said EEH has conducted such a study and come up with the Lincoln School location. She said she supports the housing complex project because there is not a lot of cost to the City. She said al- though the council has been told there will not be increased cost for the PAReS program, that issue is still unknown. Ms. Wooten said she would like to see the two projects share a jOint location. The work session was adjourned at 6:35 p.m. e MINUTES--City Council Work Session January 11, 1988 Page 5 e e e ~. Respectfully submitted, (Recorded by Todd Nissen) MINUTES--City Council Work Session January 11, 1988 Page 6