The Issues

ConnectingEugene’s Issues with the Proposed Development Plan

1. The current plan for the UO riverfront is a suburban-style office complex. The first building to be constructed is a large box surrounded by parking. It is exactly the same as buildings that Trammel Crow has built in every city in America and does almost nothing to acknowledge that it is located on priceless riverfront property in Eugene, Oregon.

2. As a community, we need to go back to the drawing board. The UO Riverfront is special, the University of Oregon is special, and Eugene is special. The current proposal is not special. It does not exemplify who we are as a community. It does not emphasize who ORI is as an institution. The UO and ORI need to develop a new plan because this one simply won’t work.

3. There are better alternatives for the site and for ORI. Building south of the railroad tracks will preserve important salmon habitat and wetlands used by waterfowl and allow this parcel to be preserved as open space and civic space for future generations. Building on the proposed riverfront site with a development plan that takes the remarkable qualities of the site into account would allow better public uses of this important community asset. We should aim to have people on the riverfront, not parked cars. ORI holds their future in their own hands – A building at an alternate site could be quickly and economically constructed for less than a fraction of the public relations and legal costs of the current proposal.

4. The University of Oregon and ORI by association have subverted public processes that we hold dear so that development can proceed under a master plan that is older than most U of O students. In their rush to complete this development before a 21 year old master plan expires, UO and ORI have trampled on the ability to discuss and debate, hallmarks of the social sciences and ideals of an institution of higher learning.  The UO and ORI have largely ignored input from students, faculty and the community and is determined to move forward hurriedly despite significant and important opposition.

Together we can help ORI and the University find a winning solution to this growing problem. Please join the debate.