Skinner Butte Park Master Plan - Laserfiche WebLink

New Search

When the I-105 freewa was c n r - ~ ~t~` y o st ucted _ in 1962, the hydrology of the Willamette r'~~ ~ ~ ~ River was irrevocably changed. Reinforced ~ }',r~ d7 ~ banks supporting the freeway on the north ~ ' ~ u" ~ 1 v ^~R ~ ~ ~ ~ , t r k7 ~I side of the river narrowed the river channel I along the west end of Skinner Butte Park, . ~ ~i ~ r ' ~ inevitably increasing the velocity of the river ~ " k ~ ~ ~a"'"'~~ I i! and directing its flow slightly more to the _--`T' ~ ~ ` gMUr south. Over the next decade, major erosion " ~ ; ~ ~ ~ r ~ events began to eat away the high bank ~ r ~ ~ zA~ ~ I along the park edge, toppling mammoth ~ ~ ~ ~f~ p ~o ~ cottonwoods and carrying away thousands ~ I of cubic yards of soil. By the early 1970s, - ~ ' , i the park had lost fifteen feet of land in some ~ ~ 9~~ i areas along this edge. In 1975, wire baskets filled with stone were installed this sketcn, from the early Also in the 1970s, pressure from the public 1970s shows a cross section along the park to help stabilize the bank led to the closure of the small zoo that had of the current river banks and reduce further erosion. Today, over existed in the park for over fifty years. staaiiization methods used in _ twenty five years later, the gabions are People lobbied the council for its removal, the park beginning to fail and the erosion problem citing inhumane living conditions of the is in need of a long-term solution. ~i bears, birds and the lone monkey, "Fang, _ ; i that lived there. In 1972, the last bird cages In the early 1970s, the Willamette Greenway were finally removed. ' program, designed to protect large areas of land along the Willamette Riverfor public Around 1973, the Eugene Jaycees rallied ` " access, recreation and wildlife habitat, the community behind another precipitated a series of major land improvement effort for the butte, and - ~ acquisitions and master planning that pledged to match $5,000 in fundraising. would link Skinner Butte Park with a chain The City Council matched the money, and of other city parks up and down the river. the "Beautify the Butte" effort was launched ' The bike path was to be the thread that and successfully promoted by the Jaycees. linked them. In 1973, the first gravel- Many organizations were involved in the surface bike path was established through .effort, including the Active 20-30 Club, the the park. The path was improved two years American Legion, Kiwanis, Rotary, and the later, and com leted in its current ali nment ! p g US Marine Corps Reserve. The main thrust ' with a concrete surface 1977. As the city's of the effort, as it turned out, was to remove i most popular alternative transportation the 1906 reservoir from the summit of the arterial, the bike path is used by bicyclists butte. Following the drafting of an (including many commuters), rollerbladers, improvement plan for the butte summit as joggers, walkers and many others, and is a passive recreation area, the reservoir was L one of Eu ene's mot im i s ortant 9 p finally dynamited into history. Concrete , recreational features. r mn n e a is of the reservoir can still be found today scattered across the south slope of With this development, the focus of access the butte. and enjoyment of the park began to shift i` , , away from the automobile. Although most Perhaps as another outgrowth of the visitors today still arrive in the park by car, "geautify the Butte" campaign, an effort i almost 90% of park visitors report using the was undertaken to plant wildflowers on the ~ bike path. Today's planning policy and butte, and for the first time native plant urban design standards are reinforcing this communities were closely examined in a i trend towards less dependence on the context of park management and automobile and more emphasis on development. At the request of the parks alternative transportation. department, Rhoda Love developed an II , inventory of plant species in three separate 34 Chapter 2: Natural History and Cultural Context