West Broadway Advisory Committee Final Report

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construction. This could involve options ranging from an emphasis on Initiating .change, especially. in an urban context, poses challenges as restoration to adaptive reuse in new, larger buildings. On the other well as opportunities. We recognize that significant new development hand, a proposal to restore the Taco Time (originally First National intheWestBroadwayareawillbedisruptivetosomeexistingbusinesses Bank) and Shaw-Med (originally Public Market) buildings to resemble and organizations; some who are current tenants of buildings that may their original forms only received 2 votes in favor. On two other be sold and subject to new construction, will have to move to new proposals the. committee was more evenly divided: these had to locations. The WBAC has, throughout its deliberations, maintained do with allowing new construction. on the Taco Time and Shaw-Med the position that local businesses and tenants-many of them sites, or delaying such construction pending more in-depth historical longtime contributors to our downtown-be treated with dignity research (an assessment of the historic values of these properties and respect, and that the city will exercise great care and provide prepared for the committee by Venerable Properties, LLC. is included significant expertise in helping them to make successful transitions, . in Appendix C). and in cases vvhere it is feasible, help local businesses relocate in new buildings a ong West Broadway. Our recommendations in section V On this question it would be fair to say Ghat committee member's are noteworthy in going significantly beyond the levels of assistance views reflected the range of reasonable opinion. outlined. in a recent required in Federal and State statutes for relocation assistance in urban Register-Guard editorial on historic preservation: that caution should redevelopment areas; we would urge he council to consider these as be exercised on such matters as the wrecking ball is'final; and at the a comprehensive package, rather than a sampling of individual menu same time we should acknowledge when once-historic properties items. have been so fundamentally altered that there is little left of their 'historic character. It should be noted that no committee members Finally, we_note that change_is a core feature_of urban-life and _ said the issue of historic restoration should preclude the .attainment placemaking: wCities are places of economic and cultural dynamism, of the density, or mix of uses, objectives desired by the committee and diversity. New ideas emerge alongside the old, .new uses: replace , (and developers. in their initial proposals); furthermore, no proposal older uses, our built environment. evolves-one example is the precluded new additional construction (for example, adding stories emphasis in this report on building energy-efficient, sustainable above) on the two sites in question, regardless of .any determination buildings. A progressive vision for downtown is one that guides of their historic value. change, rather than merely reacting to it. Eugene has rightfully earned a national reputation as one ofthe nation's most livable cities. In short, the committee's views regarding the status of these two Building and maintaining a vibrant downtown is a key to maintaining j .buildings. simply. indicate that there. is a range of opinion involving that leadership. We offer this report and the recommendations herein aesthetics, the definition of `historic values; the .level of research or as our contribution to that: effort. information required, cost/benefit analysis, and the proper forum for such determinations, such that it was not possible to reach a definitive conclusion in the time frame in which we were operating. 60 ~ ~ c~nclu>ion I