Courthouse District Draft Concept Plan

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fringes," along the Millrace, carefully chosen plants in a special soil-mixture can help remove runoff pollutants. Roof runoff can be retained in cisterns or pools. Bioswales in the streetscape can be designed to filter road runoff before it flows to the Millrace. Such bioswales can take on an urban character on streets such as 8th Avenue. Along 6th Avenue the bioswale can be a simpler design that separates the roadway from the railroad. 5. The Millrace design needs to be well inte- grated with surrounding development. The Millrace design should enhance pedestrian routes and provide "people places" as an develop- mentamenity. The details of the actual Millrace design need to be worked out as development is proposed in the district, since the size and configu- ration of developable sites will be a key factor in encouraging the development envisioned in this concept plan. The design of the Millrace and pedestrian path under the railroad tracks at the north end of Ferry Street will need to addressed at-the time that the design for the 6'h Avenue Extension is developed. 6. The Millrace needs to create a threshold into the district and into downtown. Historically, travelers from east of downtown crossed a bridge over the Millrace to enter down- town. The design of the new Millrace needs to recreate a sense of a gateway to downtown. This may at some point be the actual Millrace, but in the short run may be a water feature such as a fountain. This feature should be located at the intersection of Mill Street and Broadway. The historic alignment of the Millrace traces a green "arc" from the mill pond back to the river. Recreating the Millrace in this alignment, on the western side of the courthouse was considered, but was not technically feasible. Instead, the Concept Plan shows this alignment marked through special plantings that recall the historic 1852: Hilyard Shaw and Avery Smith dig a canal connecting tvvo muddy sloughs, creating a millrace to power Shaw's sawmill in an area east of the present-day Ferry Street Fridge. 1855: First gristmill built on the millrace. 1856: Eugene City Distilling Co. becomes the major industry, paying more taxes than any other while producing 70 gallons of whiskey per day at a time when the city's population numbered about 200, 1870's: Industries along the millrace include a furniture factory, tannery, cider and vinegu- factory, woolen mill, gristnulls, lumber mill, sash and door factory. Railroad development further spurs industrial growth. 1887: Eugene Electric Co. builds a 100- horsepower generator on the millrace. 1890: Boat rentals begin on the millrace. A flood destroys nullrace intake on the Willamette River at Judkins Point near present-day Interstate 5 bridge. Flood also changes the course of the Willamette River to run in the. current channel south of its former riverbed. The Peak By 1900: University of Oregon students adopt the millrace for romantic rowboat and comical canoe ~~ excursions. Homeowners along its banks install !~ landscapes to capitalize on the waterway. City's population is 3,236. 1910: Millrace owners Frank Chambers and George Midgley expand millrcace capacity and clash with homeowners who claim the work is flooding their basements and destroying their yards. Some ', homeowners confront millrace workers at g~mpoint. ~~, Years of legal battles commence. continued on page 22 Page 21