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~i <br />r~ <br />~_a <br />~~ <br />~_a <br />~~ <br />ra <br />[~ <br />[.] <br />[_1 <br />C7 <br />[=a <br />c= <br />~_i <br />r_. <br />c <br />~~i <br />-~ <br />Introduction <br />The Park Blocks Planning Committee was created to <br />help the City of Eugene's Facility Management Divi- <br />sion achieve two goals. One goal was to identify the <br />short-range rehabilitation of existing infiasttucttare to <br />better support current users while maintaining compat- <br />ibilitywith alonger range vision. The City of Eugene's <br />FY05 Budget includes direction to prioritize City capi- <br />tal funds for repairs and rehabilitation of the electrical <br />and water systems in the Park Blocks. <br />The second goal was to develop along-term vision of <br />how the Park Blocks might be used and what kinds of <br />improvements would be needed to support that vision. <br />While the inclusion of Park Blocks improvements in <br />the November "Civic Center Vision Phase One" bond <br />measure provided an opportunity to integrate current <br />planning for system rehabilitation with potential future <br />improvements, the resulting recommendations are not <br />dependent on specific funding sources. <br />The 16-member Park Blocks Planning Committee was a <br />combination of representatives of user groups and orga- <br />nizationswith an interest in downtown development, <br />and City of Eugene staff from a number of different <br />departments with programmatic responsibilities related <br />to the Park Blocks. User groups represented were the <br />Saturday Market, Farmer's Market, the Neighborhood <br />Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO) on <br />behalf of Mercado Latino, the Downtown Initiative for <br />the Visual Arts (DIVA), Oregon Festiva] of American <br />Music (OFAM), the Downtown Neighborhood Asso- <br />ciation, and Downtown Eugene, Inc. City programs <br />represented included Cultural Services, Planning and <br />Development, Parks & Open Space, and Facility Man- <br />agement. In addition to City staff, Lane Countyjoined <br />the Committee to represent the County's interests in the <br />block containing the "butterfly" parking lot and the area <br />used by Farmer's Market. Eric Gunderson of WBGS <br />Architecture & Planning provided design services to <br />tum the Committee's discussion and recommendations <br />into a more structured plan. <br />Background <br />In the past few years, the Park Blocks have been <br />included in a number of City planning processes. In <br />the summer of 2000, the Planning and Development <br />Department sponsored acommunity-based Park Blocks <br />Placemaking project that resulted in a number of <br />recommendations to make the Park Blocks a more wel- <br />comingpublic space. The recommendations included <br />actions by the City of Eugene, Lane County and the <br />groups using the Park Blocks-primarily the two major <br />markets-as well as recommendations on potential <br />Eugene Park Blockslmprovements-~o/s8/o4 <br />Page 3 <br />