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Home My WebLink AboutCC Newsletter - 12/01/05 EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER December 1, 2005 City of Eugene 777 Pearl Street, Room 105 Eugene, Oregon 97401-2793 (541) 682-5010 (541) 682-5414 (FAX) www.eugene-or.gov IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION CITY WINS SAFETY AWARD TH GOODWILL BUILDING DEMOLISHED FOR NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ON WEST 8 AVENUE JUNIOR WHEELCHAIR SPORTS COME TO RECREATION SERVICES RECZONE HULT CENTER HOLIDAY SEASON LINE-UP BREAK! AROUND THE CITY City Wins Safety Award th For the 5 consecutive year, the League of Oregon Cities and City County Insurance Services recognized the safe work performance by City of Eugene employees with a Silver Safety Award. The award is based on the number of lost time injury cases per 100 employees. The injury frequency rate for the fiscal year 2004-2005 was 2.64. CCIS Risk Management Consultant John Zakarriassen said, “With the number of hours worked by City of Eugene employees and the various hazards they face, the low injury frequency rate demonstrates an outstanding effort in working safely.” The framed award certificate is on display in the Human Resource and Risk Services lobby at City Hall. This award is in recognition of the continued efforts of City of Eugene employees to operate within the framework of a proactive safety program. For more information, contact Mike Pungercar at 682-5762. th Goodwill Building Demolished for New Housing Development on West 8Avenue Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corporation started th demolition of the former Goodwill Building on West 8 Avenue this week to prepare for the construction of the th WestTown on 8 development. This new building will provide 102 affordable housing units and 9 live-work units. Metro will start construction in the spring and will hold a groundbreaking ceremony in April. Given the growing competition and waiting period for traditional housing tax credits, the City and its partners always seek to access more innovative sources of financing. WestTown will be the first development in Eugene to utilize housing bond financing from the State of Oregon. The City of Eugene provided the site and $1,025,000 in federal HOME funds to further subsidize the development. Also, the Community Center for the Performing Arts will purchase the lot behind the WOW Hall in order to preserve back stage loading access. For more information, contact Stephanie Jennings, Planning and Development Department, at 682-5529 or Stephanie.a.jennings@ci.eugene.or.us. Junior Wheelchair Sports Come to Recreation Services RecZone A Junior Wheelchair Sports class at Roosevelt Middle School took a positive turn when wheelchair athletes John Roberts and Eli Ettinger taught a variety of wheelchair sports to 10 RecZone participants. When Adaptive Recreation Services offered a wheelchair sports class to youth with physical disabilities, only two participants signed up. Instead of canceling the class, Adaptive Recreation Services invited EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1 December 1, 2005 RecZone participants without disabilities to join. For six weeks, 8 to 10 middle school youth with and without disabilities learned the fundamentals of wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair racing, quad rugby, and handcycling. These sports increased their mobility, coordination, strength and endurance and provided an opportunity to experience sports from a new perspective. One important lesson learned was disability awareness. On the second day of class, when asked what was learned at the previous session, one participant without a disability said, “I learned that people with disabilities can play sports just like anyone else, just in a different way.” An observer of the program said, “The thing I have learned from these kids is that when you give a kid a ball, no matter what their abilities or disabilities, they will play with it; they will play together with other kids, and they will try to do things they have never tried before. Sports are important for kids of all ages and abilities.” Due to the popularity of this class, Adaptive Recreation will again offer the program for the winter session at Roosevelt. Eugene 4J adaptive PE teacher, Leslie Jaeger, is very excited about the potential for this program to expand to other RecZone sites. “The possibilities are enormous. If we are able to teach wheelchair sports to kids without disabilities, it provides a whole new forum for all kids to learn a new recreational activity.” For more information, contact Patty Prather, Adaptive Recreation Services at 682- 6365 or patty.l.prather@ci.eugene.or.us. Hult Center Holiday Season Line-up The Hult Center has the holidays covered from theatre to dance to opera, and more! Now through December 11, Willamette Repertory Theatre presents Chaps—A Jingle Jangle Christmas. Ashland playwrights Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner created a highly successful Christmas version of this hit musical. Sunday, December 4, Eugene Concert Choir presents An Old- Fashioned Christmas with a Splash of Salsa—a program of traditional carols and holiday favorites, as well as excerpts from Latin American works including Ariel Ramierez’s Misa Criolla. And the holiday season would not be complete without Handel’s Messiah. The Eugene Symphony performs this masterpiece on Saturday, December 10. Actor’s Cabaret of Eugene presents Dickens’ A Christmas Carol December 16-18. This classic gets the full Broadway treatment with a beautiful collaborative score by Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens. The Eugene Ballet Company presents The Nutcracker, December 16-18, an enchanting tradition for all ages. The Eugene Symphony’s Yuletide Celebration on Thursday, December 22, is a Broadway-style holiday show for the whole family. Finishing off the fabulous holiday season is the Eugene Opera’s presentation of the Barber of Seville on December 30 and 31. “Figaro, Figaro, Fi-gar-o!” This uproarious journey with its happy ending will leave audiences humming in the New Year; plus there’s the post-opera Gala on New Year’s Eve. The entertainment continues with the Martha Graham Dance Company, Mama Mia and Leahy in January. Something for everyone! For more information, contact the Hult Center Ticket Office at 682-5000. BREAK! The Big Apple comes to the Emerald City! From the streets of New York, BREAK! the urban funk spectacular, hit Eugene last Tuesday at the Hult Center and blew the audience away. The day before their performance, the dancers conducted four simultaneous workshops throughout the city: at Roosevelt, Cascade, and Monroe middle schools for RecZone members, and at Amazon Community Center. Dizzy and Dave visited Roosevelt MS to wow the students and teach their moves. At each workshop site, three lucky winners won a pair of tickets to Tuesday’s performance! EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2 December 1, 2005 Special thanks to Recreation Manager Sandy Shaffer and Cultural Services Programming Manager Carol Phillips for making it possible for everyone to learn about “Lockin’ an’ Poppin” from the masters. For more information, contact Recreation Programmer Gina Tafoya at 682-6304. EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 3 December 1, 2005