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Parks get sparkle: $25 million bond measure pays for development and upgrades - The Rel... Page 5 of 6 <br /> But money remains for each of the projects originally <br /> envisioned under the parks measure, and in some cases the <br /> dollars have stretched further than was hoped. <br /> For instance, the measure included $750,000 to upgrade 15 <br /> youth athletic fields at local schools, but economies of scale <br /> and various partnerships have allowed completion of 19 <br /> upgrades with a final one planned at Jefferson Middle School. <br /> The measure also anticipated adding 232 acres to the parks <br /> inventory, but the city has acquired more than 200 acres <br /> already - mostly in south Eugene's ridgeline - and anticipates <br /> several more purchases. <br /> "We're going to exceed our target acreage, and probably be <br /> able to accomplish more," Riner says. "We get to do more work <br /> than we said we were going to do, and that's a good thing." <br /> Skateboarders need space, too <br /> Also contributing to the overall project's success has been a <br /> spirit of cooperation among jurisdictions. <br /> The Eugene and Bethel school districts have chipped in on <br /> projects involving their property, and the U.S. Army Corps of <br /> Engineers is working with the city on the Delta Ponds <br /> restoration. <br /> "We've really been working with the school districts to <br /> integrate our parks into their space, so there's almost a <br /> seamless transition from Lhe school to the park and vice <br /> versa," Torrey says. "I will tell you, that is very unusual in <br /> Oregon." <br /> It was Torrey who formed a special citizens' committee that <br /> prepared the city's game plan for parks upgrades and <br /> recommended the 1998 bond election - a committee that was <br /> called back together this summer to begin looking at how to <br /> shape the future of Eugene's parks, once the facilities are able <br /> to handle present-day demands. <br /> Torrey says he campaigned for the measure four years ago <br /> along with other community activists and even "kids with a <br /> skateboard in one hand and a 'Vote for the Parks' sign in the <br /> other." <br /> In fact it was those contacts, along with a survey conducted at <br /> Cal Young Middle School, that convinced the mayor of the <br /> popular demand for skateboard parks and made him a strong <br /> advocate for Eugene's young skateboarding public. <br /> "I did not expect the (survey) answer I got, but the answer I <br /> got was overwhelmingly that we need a skateboard park," <br /> Torrey says. <br /> http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/08/18/1 a.parkprojects.0818.html 8/26/02 <br />